Actress Anne Bancroft produces first play

NEW YORK, July 6 (UPI) -- Oscar and Tony Award-winning actress Anne Bancroft turns to theatrical production this month with a new one-woman off-Broadway play, Ann Randolph's "Squeeze."

John Barlow, press agent for the play, to be directed by Alan Bailey, said Tuesday it will open at the Acorn Theater on West 42nd Street July 29 for a 13-week engagement.

He said the play, in which Randolph performs, deals with Randolph's experiences while working in a woman's homeless shelter, her love affair with an accordionist, her discovery of dignity and grace in unusual people, and finally self-acceptance.

Bancroft saw "Squeeze" in Los Angeles more than two years ago and said, "It was absolutely love at first sight -- like when I first met Mel Brooks," according to Barlow.

Brooks is Bancroft's husband and the author of the long-playing Broadway comedy, "The Producers." Bancroft was quoted as saying she had learned a lot from her husband's show, notably "What not to produce."