LONG BEACH, CA -- The curtain for Curtains will go up July 31 at the International City Theatre for a six-week run.

Stephen Hill's black comedy about euthanasia and family dynamics premiered at the Hampstead Theatre in London in 1987 and moved to the West End a year later. It played New York in 1996 and was called "harrowing and funny" by The New York Times.

"Although Curtains is ostensibly about assisted suicide, when one gets to the heart of the play, it's really about life," said director Richard Hochberg. "The play is hilarious, a dead-on depiction of the competition, the jealousy, and most of all, the avoidance that goes on in a family."

Brenan Baird, Gail Godown, Christopher Jaymes, Jeanette Miller, Denise Poirier, Betta Rae, Edmund L. Shaff and Jacqueline Stehr are featured.

Curtains runs through Sept. 6 at the ICT, located on campus at Long Beach City College. Friday and Saturday 8 PM; Sunday 2 PM. Tickets are $22; seniors & students $19. Call (562) 938-4l28. -- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent