Directed by Pavol Liska, with a text assembled by Kelly Copper, the newly constructed work "addresses issues of war abroad, fear at home, and a world divided between immediate gratification and the harsh realities that wait just around the corner."

CSC asks, "Is this contemporary New York City? Or 5th Century Athens?"

Previews begin March 22 at Classic Stage Company's home at 136 East 13th Street. Opening is March 26.

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The cast of Fragment includes Juliana Francis, Tony Torn and Zachary Oberzan. Set design is by Peter Nigrini, lighting by Tim Cryan, costumes by Ona Botez-Ban and sound by Kristin Worrall. Slovak-born director Pavol Liska is renowned for his highly original stagecraft and dramaturgy, and recently created the non-verbal work Poetics: a ballet brut, with his company Nature Theater of Oklahoma, scheduled for production as part of the T.B.A. Festival in Portland, Oregon in September 2006. His original work on classic texts has been widely acclaimed and his productions of Chekhov's Three Sisters, and Kasimir and Karoline by Ödön von Horvath were both seen at Classic Stage Company. His company, Nature Theater of Oklahoma, will next present BAiT (Buenos Aires in Translation), an international collaboration between ground-breaking Argentinean playwrights and American theatre companies at PS 122. Liska is a Usual Suspect at New York Theatre Workshop and has also directed work at Chashama and the Ontological-Hysteric Theatre.

Kelly Copper (text) has worked with collaborator director Pavol Liska and the company, Nature Theater of Oklahoma, for the past 10 years, creating ambitious adaptations of classic texts, as well as a host of original works which have been staged and read around New York at Theater for the New City, Chashama, New York Theater Workshop, and PS 122. Most recently, Copper collaborated on the non-verbal work Poetics: A ballet brut.

Fragment will be performed Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, with matinees Saturdays at 2 PM and Sundays at 3 PM. Tickets are $35 Tuesday through Thursdays and $40 Fridays through Sundays.

For single ticket information call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200, visit the theatre in person or order online at www.ticketcentral.com.

For more information about CSC, which is under the leadership of artistic director Brian Kulick and executive director Jessica R. Jenen, call (212) 677-4210 or visit the theatre's website at www.classicstage.org.