Cornell's Department of Theatre, Film and Dance will present "I'm a Frayed Knot," a work written and directed by faculty member Byron Suber, from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1 in the Black Box Theatre at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts.

The play/performance work was first presented in New York City at Performance Space 122 in 1988. It is a postmodern adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" and reflects the very particular artistic and cultural scene of New York's East Village in the 1980s. In ways, the play reflects Suber's reaction to his neighborhood community's method of coping when the city was the epicenter of the emerging AIDS epidemic.

Through Suber's reconfiguring of the performance and audience spaces -- and his satirical play with film, television and theatrical conventions (like the intentional inconsistency of the early 20th-century transatlantic accent) -- "I'm a Frayed Knot" gets at a different kind of authenticity and realism as filtered through a queer postmodern sensibility.

Suber, a senior lecturer in dance, is also the organizer of the Locally Grown Dance Festival and founding director of the Theatre, Film and Dance Summer in Europe Program. Suber's initial background was in dance, but while living in New York City throughout the 1980s, his creative work expanded to include theater, music and comedy performance. After coming to Cornell, his academic interests drew him to a master's degree in the history of architecture and urban development.

"In restaging the work, I have debated whether to reproduce the work exactly as it had been done in 1988, in its raw state, with all its intentional and unintentional imperfections, because it reflected such a specific moment in my life and in history to do it that way," Suber says. "But in working with this incredible cast of Cornell students and Ithaca community members, I have tried to strike a balance between taking advantage of the incredible creativity of the new cast while preserving many of the aspects of the original work. Some of the jokes still work for everyone, while some will only be understood by those of us who are familiar with such antique media references as 'The Gong Show.'"

Evening performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 28-Oct 1. One matinee will be offered at 2 p.m. Oct. 1. Audience members will be seated on padded mats on the floor in the center of the theater, but special seating will be available for those who need it. Call the box office in advance to request a chair. For tickets and information, visit the Schwartz Center box office, 430 College Ave., open 12:30-4 p.m. weekdays; call 607-254-ARTS; or purchase tickets online at http://www.schwartztickets.com. Tickets are $4.

Kathy Hovis is communications manager for the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance.