Pale Idiot, by the author of Lipstick Traces, plays scattered dates and times Aug. 17-24 at The Greenwich Street Theatre on Greenwich between Charlton and Vandam.

According to production notes, "This town has an Idiot problem; a Health Inspector is on his way to investigate and eradicate. As a result of their potential exposure and possible infection, everyone in town, from the highest to the lowest, is subjected to the Idiot Test, a cruel but zany examination where the answers are somehow never right. Pale Idiot is a fast-paced game of words and wit examining the threat of oppressive power structures, as well as the fear and loathing inspired by 'the other' in our midst. Part allegory, part farce, the fantasy of testing politicians, businessmen, and bureaucrats for stupidity is realized and the consequences are revolutionary."

Pale Idiot was originally presented by The Rude Mechanicals of Austin, TX, and won a B. Iden Payne award. The work, with music by Tim Robert, "poses the timeless questions: What is 'Idiot'? Where lives 'Idiot'? And the ultimate zinger: Are you the Idiot?"

Laramie Dennis (Mac Wellman's Cleveland and Sincerity Forever for the Bat Theatre Co.) directs. The cast features Roxy Becker, Travis York and Ehren Christian.

Kirk Lynn penned Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the Twentieth Century, which received acclaim during its successful Off-Broadway run at The Ohio Theatre in 2001. His other plays include The Family Trilogy, Requiem for Tesla, El Paraiso (the humiliation of pleasure) and WAR. Frozen No Salt Productions is a partnership between two expatriate Texan artists. Their mission "is to promote the work of Texan theatre artisans living and working in New York, as well as to create local opportunities to advance the work of those artists living and working in Texas." This is their premiere production.

Tickets are $15. For information, visit www.FringeNYC.org or call (212) 279-4488.