Playwright Daniel MacIvor's See Bob Run seemed to be following the same formula as his previous work Never Swim Alone, which eventually landed an Off-Broadway production: Write the play, run it at the New York International Fringe Festival, run it at a small 60-seat Off-Off-Broadway theatre, then extend before garnering an Off-Broadway run.

But, Bob—following an extension of its Off-Off-Broadway run at KGB's The Red Room—will break the pattern by closing March 10. The play began performances Feb. 7. According to the press spokesperson for the show, there are plans to bring the show back to New York City later in the year, following the premiere of MacIvor's next work In on It at Performance Space 122.

While MacIvor's See Bob Run did enjoy a mounting at last summer's Fringe, that was a different production. MacIvor's Never Swim co-hort, director Timothy P. Jones, returns to the team for this run. MacIvor and Jones have revised the earlier script, as Jones told Playbill On-Line, making "a lot of the references updated and Americanized to make it more contemporary." He also noted that "initially when we were working on Never Swim Alone, we planned to do the two productions [as one show]," but they realized it stood well enough on its own.

Also rejoining the duo is Susan O'Connor, who played the Referee in Never Swim. She plays the title character of Roberta or "Bob." The play follows the life of the heroine as she tries to find her father while escaping her mother, best friend and boyfriend.

Never Swim Alone ran at the 1999 Fringe, then ran at St. Mark's Theatre before its three-month engagement at OB's Soho Playhouse this past summer. Other works by MacIvor include Somewhere I Have Never Traveled, Here Lies Henry and Monster (which premiered at Performance Space 122 last year.) To make reservations to See Bob Run at the Red Room, 85 East 4th St. (between Bowery and 2nd Ave.), call (212) 539-7686.

— by Ernio Hernandez