FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
contact Lisa Gardner (lisag@saturdayplayers.com)

"For the third consecutive day
flying saucers have been reported over Farmington."

The Farmington (NM) Daily-Times,
March 18, 1950

SATURDAY PLAYERS presents the world premier of UNIDENTIFIED: The Farmington Armada as part of The New York International Fringe Festival -- FringeNYC -- a production of The Present Company, August 8-24, 2003.

It's THE X-FILES meets SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY as the population of Farmington, New Mexico tries to explain the unexplainable.

A newspaper article from 1950 inspires this science fiction anthology. In March, 1950, the local paper reported an "armada" of unidentified objects flying over Farmington, New Mexico for three days in a row. The Armada's origin was never identified.

National playwrights were recently shown that article then asked to write a short theater piece inspired by it. The result: The Farmington Armada, presented at the 2002 Aztec (NM) UFO Symposium as part of an ongoing oral history project by The Aztec Public Library. Using that production as the starting point, UNIDENTIFIED reconceives and restages The Farmington Armada, in an expanded version with new material by New York writers.

UNIDENTIFIED is compiled and adapted by Saturday Players Artistic Director Lisa Gardner (Trey Parker's CANNIBAL! The Musical), based on the original project produced and conceived by Charles Pike.

"...it's hard not to be swept up in their rambunctious pleasure."
~ Ben Brantley

Cast includes Brad Carter, Matthieu Cornillion, Lisa Gardner, Sarah K. Lippmann*, Lisa Preston, Eric Ramey, Rik Sansone*, Jerry Shulman, Joanna Strange, Georgia Snow, Tella Storey, Vanessa Yuille, and Monique Vukovic* (Peter and Vandy, 2003 Drama Desk Best Play nominee).

Saturday Players is a troupe of performers, artists and technicians dedicated to making the theater fun again. Their 2001 smash hit, Trey Parker's Cannibal! The Musical Live On Stage ran for five sold-out months at The Kraine Theater. Billboard Magazine praised its "feeling of a group of buddies putting on a show in their basement" and prompted CNN's Showbiz This Weekend to proclaim, "Who knows? You could be seeing a preview of Broadway's next biggest hit!"

UNIDENTIFIED: The Farmington Armada runs throughout FringeNYC from August 8-24. To purchase tickets ($15), call (212) 420-8877 in New York, or 1-888-FringeNYC outside New York.

For exact theater location and FringeNYC performance schedule, visit www.saturdayplayers.com or The New York International Fringe Festival's website at www.fringenyc.org.