'The Unfortunates' at The New York International Fringe Festival.

Diana Cherkas as Mary Kelly (Bob Eberle)

Based on the provocative, poignant, true story of Mary Jane Kelly, Jack the Ripper's final victim. Mary walks into the Ten Bells pub, looking to sell her last possession. Instead of finding a bar full of regulars, there is only one lone stranger. Will he buy what she's selling, ensuring her safety? Or will he turn out to be Jack the Ripper.

The Unfortunates received its world premiere in New Jersey at Centenary Stage in March (Read our Review), where it won both the Susan Glaspell Award and the Gloria Ann Peter Playwriting Award. The Unfortunates, had workshop productions at the Kitchen Theatre in Ithaca and at the Orlando Shakespeare Festival. The critically-acclaimed play will make its New York premiere at the 2013 New York International Fringe Festival.

The production stars Diana Cherkas, playwright Aoise Stratford, directed by Ryan Scott Whinnem, set design by David M Kaplan, sound design by Greg Scalera and costume design by Julia Sharp. Produced by Vertical Tasting Productions a co-production of The New York International Fringe Festival.

All performances take place at Teatro LATEA – CSV Center Cultural Center, Venue #4, 107 Suffolk Street, 2nd Floor, between Rivington & Delancey, New York, NY 10002.

Subways: F train to Delancey, J/M to Essex Street.

Tickets are available at www.fringenyc.org or by calling 866-468-7619. Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door, $10 students/seniors.

Show Dates:

Tuesday, August 13th @ 3:30 pm

Sunday, August 18th @ 8:00 pm

Tuesday, August 20th @ 5:15 pm

Thursday, August 22nd @ 9:00 pm

Saturday, August 24th @ 9:00 pm

More info at www.fringenyc.org  Running time: 85 minutes

The Present Company, presenter of The Unfortunates, is the producer of The New York International Fringe Festival, the largest multi-arts theater festival in North America. It takes place over the course of two weeks every August, spread on more than 20 stages across several neighborhoods in Manhattan on selected dates from August 9th through August 25th. 

Diana Cherkas (Actor/producer) originated the role of Mary Jane Kelly and her entourage at Centenary Stage Company in 2012, having performed in the Women Playwrights Series reading in 2010. Diana also had the honor of originating the roles of Lucy in Left Handed Hofner (American Globe Theatre); Lucy in Haunted House (Audax Theatre Group); Lady Anne in The Dueling Princess (Estrogenius Festival); Margaret in The Naked People Play (Mobtown Theater). Other regional theatre credits include: Liz in Loose Knit, Peg Woffington/Hannah More in the American premiere of A Laughing Matter (Centenary Stage Company); Nikki in Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 (Bickford Theatre); Diana in All's Well That Ends Well, Witch inMacbeth (Baltimore Shakespeare Festival); Sasia in Rough Magic Rorschach Theatre); Marianna in Sherlock's Secret Life Pioneer Playhouse). On screen Diana has been seen in: A Haunting (Discovery Channel); Incredible Human Machine (National Geographic); My Little Demon (world premiere at Fright Night Film Festival); Mudvayne: Nexus. Life. Death (official selection Raindance); Modern Love is Automatic (world premiere at SXSW, Boston Underground Film Festival -- Best of Fest Feature winner. www.DianaCherkas.com

Ryan Scott Whinnem (Director) founded The Mobtown Players and ran it for eight years in Baltimore. He received his MFA from Catholic University in 2009. He also founded Bright Alchemy Theater in Washington DC, which is dedicated to devised works centering around mystical(ish) themes. In New York, his theater company Vacant Lot Theater is devoted to doing unexpected theater in unconventional spaces (www.vacantlottheatre.org). He has directed about half of Shakespeare's canon. His favorite productions include New York Masque by Stephen Spotswood, A Child's Drawing of a Monster by Erik Ehn, Accidente înspăimântătoare pe terenul de joacă (Gruesome Playground Injuries in Romanian) by Rajiv Joseph and Comedy of Errors by Wiliam Shakespeare and Red Hood: Once Upon a Wartime by Jeffrey Sichel and Ksusha Litvak.

Aoise Stratford (Playwright) work has been produced in Canada, Austria, Italy, Australia, Belgium, England, and throughout the USA. She is the recipient of several awards including the Alan Minieri Award, A Pinter Review Prize for Drama Silver Medal, the Yukon Pacific Playwright Award, the Hudson River Classics New Play Award, and The Last Frontier Theatre Conference Audience Choice Award among others. Her short plays have also won her ‘best playwright’ awards at Looking Glass Theatre NY, Turtle Shell Theatre, NY, American Globe Theatre, NY, Last Frontier Theatre Conference, and others. She has twice been a finalist for the Actors' Theatre of Louisville's Heideman Award and has been nominated for an American Theatre Critics' Association New Play Award for her full-length play "Somewhere In Between," which has had productions in Alaska (touring to Seattle) and San Francisco, and was reviewed as "somewhere in between brilliant and amazing" by the Anchorage Daily news and as "seamless fantasia that is always compelling and often funny," by the San Francisco Examiner. She is a member and regional representative of the Dramatists Guild. She has taught writing workshops for various colleges, theatres and conferences including the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Curious Theatre, the Last Frontier Theatre Festival, and Cornell University. Her work has been published by Smith and Kraus, JAC, United Stages and Merriweather Press.

David M Kaplan (Production Coordinator/producer) holds his BA in Technical Theatre with a concentration in Lighting Design from Hartwick College and his MFA in Technical Direction from Florida State University. Most recently, he has moved into academia, building and instructing at Kean University, Stevenson University and University of Maryland Baltimore County. Technical Director experience includes Premiere Stages, John W. Engman Theater, Rep Stage, and Mill Mountain. Other professional experience includes; Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Shakespeare & Company, Glimmerglass Opera, Berkshire Theatre Festival, and The Theater Barn.