Temchin, co-founder of The Play Company, a troupe devoted to the production of new international plays, died Oct. 26 of a sudden heart attack. He was 57.

He was born in Warsaw, Poland, and moved to the United States with his family as a child.

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The Play Company is a not-for-profit theatre in New York City dedicated to producing an international program of new plays. Mr. Temchin created the company in 1998 with Kate Loewald and the late Mike Ockrent. The Play Company has produced the world premieres of High Dive by Leslie Ayvazian and Smashing by Brooke Berman, the American premiere of Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran by Eric Emmanuel Schmitt, and the New York premiere of No. 11 (Blue & White) by Alexandra Cunningham, along with many presentations and readings of plays and literature from all over the world.

Temchin produced the long-running Off-Broadway show El Grande de Coca-Cola in New York and around the world.  He produced the feature film, "Home Movies," directed by Brian DePalma, starring Kirk Douglas and Nancy Allen. He worked for 15 years with the Manhattan Theatre Club, first as associate artistic director, and then as literary consultant.  In MTC's Writers in Performance series, he directed events featuring Malcolm McDowell, Jeremy Irons, Bill Murray, Buck Henry, Treat Williams, Marcia Gay Harden, David Strathairn and Alec Baldwin. He served as dramaturg for several plays at MTC including Janusz Glowacki's Hunting Cockroaches and Richard Wesley's The Talented Tenth. At the American Jewish Theatre he produced Another Time by Ronald Harwood, starring Malcolm McDowell and Marion Seldes, and The Day the Bronx Died by Michael Henry Brown. He edited three books of monologues and scenes for Applause Books, and has written teleplays for "Freddy's Nightmares," "Tales From the Crypt" and animation shorts that appeared on "Sesame Street."

Temchin produced the musical revue, 2 By 5, which introduced the Kander and Ebb song, "New York, New York." He produced the repertory season of the Actors Studio Drama School at the New School University for seven years. He was a graduate of Amherst College.

He is survived by his mother, Mira Sommerstein Temchin, sister Shelley Temchin, brother-in-law Tom Parker, nephews Mark and Teddy Parker, and cousins Lea Kuchin Rabinowitz and Henry Temchin.

Donations in Temchin's name can be sent to the Play Company, 19 W. 44th St., Suite 1401, New York, NY 10036, or visit www.playco.org.