One of the most obscure of John Guare's many plays, Cop-Out, will get a new staging at the New York International Fringe Festival. The Drama League presents this production, which is directed by Michael Alltop and plays at the Schaeberle Studio Theatre at Pace University, Aug. 17-27. Almost unknown today, Cop-Out had a high-profile premiere, bowing at Broadway's Cort Theatre on April 7, 1969, on a double bill with Guare's Home Fires. The two-person cast featured then husband and wife Linda Lavin and Rob Leibman. Leibman played a variety of policeman, Lavin the various women in their lives. The piece ran only 8 performances.
The Fringe Fest runs Aug. 16-27. Tickets are $12. For information on Cop-Out, call the Fringe, call (212) 420-8877, or consult the website at www.fringenyc.org.
--By Robert Simonson