Elza Zagreda Set for Return of DATING DEPRESSION AND DIRTBAGS: A LOVE STORY, Now thru 6/30

Dating Depression and Dirtbags…A Love Story, written by and starring Elza Zagreda returns starting tonight, June 20th at Stage Left Studios. Joan Kane directs.

After her Prince Charming turned into the Prince of Darkness, Elza Zagreda dried her tears, strapped on her stilettos and embarked on a journey to find love again; not so easy in a city where women outnumber men by 5 to 1. From J date to Holy Communion to Ricky’s Strip Club, Elza explores all venues where NOT to meet a potential suitor. She learns the hard way about the new war on terror…DATING.. and asks the proverbial question: “Have you seen what’s out there?”!

Turning heartbreak and tragedy on its ass with heartfelt humor and wit, Dating Depression and Dirtbags: A Love Story is painfully real and laugh out loud funny take on the NYC dating scene. Only the names have been changed to protect the guilty!

Elza Zagreda’s previous solo shows, Corn Bread and Feta Cheese: Growing Up Fat and Albanian, Divorce Albanian Style! and The Best of Elza: Growing Up Fat, Albanian… & Happily Divorced, have been performed in theatres in New York, L.A., Detroit and Boston. She was recently featured in the play The Resistible Rise of Fatlinda Paloka by Anne Giordano where some of the irresistible characters she created were part of the story. She’s appeared on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre in Letters from Kosovo with Vanessa Redgrave and Tim Robbins directed by Eve Ensler. Other play credits include The Vagina Monologues at the Globe Playhouse in L.A. and Trojan Women directed by Ellen Mc Laughlin. She performed in Girls Girls Girls, an invitation only event featuring the funniest female comics in NYC and is a regular in the show Forbidden Kiss voted “Best Sexy Theater” by the Village Voice. On television she co-starred in ABC’s The Unusuals, 30 Rock, and Law and Order SVU (playing the memorable role of Svetlana, the Slavic mail order bride). Elza will also be featured in the new film Grand Street with Sam Robards coming out later this year.

Director Joan Kane was voted as one of nytheatre.com’s 2011 People of the Year in Indie Theatre. She’s the artistic director for the threatre company Ego Actus and has directed plays and readings at Ensemble Studio Theatre, Abingdon Theatre, NADA, Henry Street Settlement and the Samuel French OOB Festival, among other venues. She holds an MFA in directing from The New School for Drama and is a member of SDC.

Dating Depression and Dirtbags…A Love Story opens at Stage Left Studios (214 West 30th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues) on Wednesday, June 20th and runs through Saturday, June 30th. Performances are Wednesdays June 20 & 27, Fridays June 22 & 29 and Saturdays June 23 & 30. All shows are at 8PM. Tickets are $20 in advance, $22 at the door. For tickets go to www.smarttix.com or call (212) 868-4444. For more information go to www.elzazagreda.com.

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