The search for the cure for cancer ends this weekend when Louis Peter Cimino's Cut, Poison & Burn closes its West Cost premiere at the Sacred Fools Theatre Sept. 23. Performances began Aug. 24. Dave Moore, who recently directed a highly regarded production of Five Women Wearing the Same Dress at the MET Theatre in Hollywood, directs.

Cimino's protagonist is a dedicated young physician who comes across new developments in cancer therapies which may provide significant advances in the care and treatment of the dreaded disease. He starts to devote himself to the research and application of the new remedies, only to run afoul of the corporate medical establishment and the pharmaceutical conglomerates who go after him with a vengeance because he won't be bribed or intimidated by them.

Cimino's previous L.A. play was Fragging, which dealt with heroin addiction in Vietnam during the war and was a Eugene O'Neill Theater Conference semi-finalist.

The cast includes Frederick Bald, Mark Bennington, Vic Chao, Betsy Chapman, Russell Edge, David Grammer, Richard Gustafson, James Keenley, Stephanie Noel Little, Amy Motta, Melissa Roddy, Deena Rubinson, Laurie Searle and Ariadne Shaffer.

Sacred Fools Theatre is located at 660 N. Heliotrope Drive. For tickets and information call (310) 281-8337 or visit http://www.SacredFools.org. -- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent