Punishing Blow will make its world premiere Aug. 21 as part of the 6th annual Woodstock Fringe Festival of Theatre & Song. Performances will play the Byrdcliffe Theatre in Woodstock, NY, through Aug. 31.

Directed by Nicola Sheara, the cast will feature Seth Duerr, who was recently seen as Ahab in the Acting Company's presentation of Orson Welles' Moby Dick Rehearsed.

Cohen's Punishing Blow, according to press notes, is described as such: "Arrested, tried, and convicted, a college professor can stay out of jail if he enters rehab for his drinking, undergoes treatment for anger management, and gives a public lecture . . . about one person of his choosing from a list of The Hundred Most Influential Jews of All Time. What the professor did to get himself arrested will emerge in the course of the evening. Who he chooses as the subject of his talk will be declared promptly — not Albert Einstein, not Golda Meir, but Daniel Mendoza, a Jewish bare-knuckle boxing champion of eighteenth century London. Whether this sentence is a wise one, whether it has the intended effect on the professor, is the decision for the audience."

Playwright Cohen is the winner of four Emmy awards for his work as a writer for "Late Night with David Letterman," "TV Nation" and "The Rosie O'Donnell Show."

The Byrdcliffe Theatre is located at Upper Byrdcliffe Road, Woodstock, NY. Tickets, priced $20-$25, are available by visiting www.woodstockfringe.org or by calling (845) 810-0123.