LOS ANGELES -- Riga, the first play written by William M. Hoffman since his 1985 Tony Award-nominated As Is, will have its world premiere Jan. 22 at Inside the Ford at 8 PM.

This multi-media work marks the playwright's first theatrical collaboration in 14 years with director Marshall W. Mason, who staged As Is' premiere at New York's Circle Repertory Theatre.

Riga is just your normal, gay, interracial, Holocaust play, focusing on two gay men -- one white and Jewish, the other African-American -- who struggle to find a way to rekindle their relationship," said a company spokesperson. "While each character confronts (or denies) painful memories of abuses (from anti-semitism to racism), they are also coping with the ever-present threats of homophobia."

The play is produced by the Venture West Theatre Company and has been designed by Lawrence Miller.

Hoffman also wrote the libretto to the opera "The Ghosts of Versailles" (music by John Corigliano), which premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 1991 and was later televised by PBS. Mason has directed 12 plays on Broadway, four of which won Tony Awards. His Los Angeles credits include Summer and Smoke (with Christine Lahti) at the Ahmanson Theatre and Burn This (with John Malkovich and Joan Allen) at the Mark Taper.

Inside the Ford is located at the John Anson Ford Ampitheatre Complex, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. E. Call (323) 660-TKTS.

-- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent