The English Channel Closes Off-Broadway Oct. 5

By Adam Hetrick
October 5, 2008

Robert Brustein's The English Channel concludes its limited Off-Broadway engagement at the Abingdon Theatre Oct. 5.

Following the final 2 PM Oct. 5 performance of the comedy, producer Rocco Landesman, Public Theater artistic director Oskar Eustis and Hair director Diane Paulus will join playwright Brustein in a discussion on the themes of the new work. The discussion is free and open to the public.

Brian Robert Burns, Sean Dugan Lori Gardner and Stafford Clark-Price star in The English Channel under the direction of Daniela Varon. The production officially opened Sept. 21, following previews from Sept. 13.

The English Channel "examines the murky relationship between great writers and their proclivity to 'borrow' ideas and material, tracing Shakespeare's relationship with The Earl of Southampton, the Dark Lady of the Sonnets, and Christopher Marlowe during the turbulent months before Marlowe's death," according to press notes.

The creative team includes Mike Billings (set and lighting design), Laura Crow (costume design) and Scott Killian (original music and sound design).

The Abingdon Theatre Company is located at 312 West 36th Street in Manhattan.