Murray Mednick's Joe and Betty, which received strong reviews in its June 2002 New York bow, returns Off-Broadway Dec. 8-Jan. 12 at the new Kirk Theatre on Theatre Row. Original stars, Annabelle Gurwitch ("Dinner and a Movie") and John Diehl, will reprise the title roles with Guy Zimmerman directing once again.

Joe and Betty are a poor couple struggling to raise six kids on relief. As their poverty crushes their hopes, loving man and wife dissolve through Who's Afraid of Virigina Woolf?-esque conflict into man and madwoman. A pioneer of the Off- and Off-Off-Broadway scene in the 1960's and 1970's, Mednick is also the author of Mrs. Feurstein, The Coyote Cyle, Baby, Jesus!, Freeze and Sixteen Routines.

Gurwitch's New York theatre credits include Uncommon Women and Others at Second Stage and The Red Snake at the Public Theatre. A former "Miami Vice" star and current cast member on "The Shield," Diehl performed in Sam Shepard's Action and Killer's Head and opposite Holly Hunter in the West Coast premiere of A Lie of the Mind.

Also in Joe and Betty are Shawna Casey, Tom McCleister, Sharron Shayne, Andrea Stein and Drago Sumonja.

Joe and Betty will open Dec. 15. Tickets are $45. The Kirk Theatre is located at 410 West 42nd Street. For reservations, call (212) 279-4200. — By Christine Ehren