"Due to critical acclaim and popular demand," according to a release, the new work which began performances March 15 and opened March 18 at the company's Manhattan home for a run originally slated through April 8.

Brian Mertes directs the dark comedy about "a young man searching for his life's worth after the death of his estranged father," as show materials explain. "Strapped with a pack of cigarettes and his father's remains, he takes his quest along a New Jersey landscape dotted with an eccentric cast of characters who, like him, are wrestling with absurdity on the outskirts of the American Dream."

The cast features Michael Cullen, Jeremy Davidson, James Hendricks, Marin Ireland, Hamish Linklater, Lucas Papaelias and Matthew Stadelmann.

The designers for Cyclone include Victoria Imperioli (set and costume) and Tony Giovannetti (lighting), both Studio Dante resident designers.

Michael Imperioli founded Studio Dante in 2003 with his wife Victoria Imperioli to "house progressive new plays in a setting inspired by the grand architecture and design of traditional 19th Century venues." As an actor, Imperioli has appeared on film in "Goodfellas," "Jungle Fever," "Malcolm X," "Shark Tale" (in voice), "Clockers," "Dead Presidents," and "Summer of Sam" — which he co-wrote with Victor Colicchio and executive produced. He has also appeared on the stage in Aven’ U Boys, Displaced Persons, Half Deserted Street and The Writing On The Wall & Little Blood Brother.

Studio Dante has previously produced Late Fragment , Baptism by Fire, Ponies and Henry Flamethrowa. The company is "committed to producing writers who inhabit a fresh point of view and have the courage to investigate difficult emotional terrain."

Tickets to Cyclone at Studio Dante, 257 West 29th Street (between 7th and 8th Ave.), are available by calling (212) 868-4444. For more information, visit www.studiodante.com.