Authors Mary McCarthy and John Cheever will be subjected to Cruel and Barbarous Treatment come Mar. 3. On that day, The Salon will start presenting three dramatic adaptations based on two short stories by McCarthy and one by Cheever. Rob Urbinati, author of Hazelwood Junior High, will direct McCarthy's Cruel and Barbarous Treatment, which he also adapted. Will Pomerantz, who recently staged Prater Violet for the Salon, will mount his adaptation of Cheever's 5:48. And, lastly, Erik Sniedze will stage what is probably McCarthy best-known story, The Man in the Brooks Brothers Suit. Sniedze and the actors in the play adapted the piece.

The cast features Brett Camp, Adriana Dufay, Annie McAdams and J. Christopher O'Connor.

Treatment officially opens Mar. 6. The Salon is located at 432 E. 91st Street in Manhattan. For information, call (212) 279-4200.

--By Robert Simonson