The critically acclaimed Brits Off Broadway festival, host to the UK's most
innovative and provocative theater in New York City, returns this year
with a line up of eight sensational productions, including its first
ever musical. Presented by 59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear,
Executive Producer), Brits Off Broadway launches on Wednesday, April 23
and runs through Sunday, June 29. The single ticket price for each
show ranges from $27.50 - $50 ($19.25 – $35 for 59E59 members). A 4-
show Brit Pass (two shows in Theater A; choice of one in B and one in
C) is available for $125. Single tickets to Brits Off Broadway are
available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.ticketcentral.com.
Brit Passes cannot be purchased on line, only over the phone or in
person at the 59E59 Theaters Box Office. For more information on Brits
Off Broadway, visit www.59E59.org or www.britsoffbroadway.com.
The 2008 Brits Off Broadway line up is:
Wednesday, April 23 – Sunday, May 18
YELLOW MOON The Ballad of Leila and Lee, written by David Greig and
directed by Guy Hollands. From TAG Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland
This critically acclaimed show, which sold out its entire Edinburgh
Festival Fringe run, is a fast-paced modern Bonnie and Clyde tale of
two teenagers on the run in the Highlands of Scotland. Silent Leila is
an introverted girl who has a passion for celebrity magazines. Stag
Lee Macalinden is the deadest of dead end kids in a dead end town. They
never meant to get mixed up in murder… The first of two plays in Brits
Off Broadway from Scotland's finest playwright David Greig.
Thursday, May 1 – Sunday, May 18
THE UNCONQUERED, written by Torben Betts and directed by Muriel
Romanes. From the Stellar Quines Theatre Company, Edinburgh, Scotland
Torben Betts' powerful poetic language, dark humor and provocative
ideas build a hard-hitting and enthralling story around a fiercely
intelligent young girl and her relentless refusal of the establishment.
When a people's revolution breaks out and a mercenary soldier intrudes
the family home, the conflict between the regime and the unconquered
girl is revealed.
Wednesday, May 7 – Sunday, June 1
DAMASCUS written by David Greig, directed by Philip Howard. From the
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland Ewen Bremner ("Trainspotting,"
"Black Hawk Down") stars as an English anguage textbook salesman on
assignment to the oldest continuously inhabited city on earth.
Grappling with language and love, meanings and misconceptions,
DAMASCUS is a sophisticated, stylish and remarkable new comedy.
Tuesday, May 20 – Sunday, June 8
ARTEFACTS written Mike Bartlett, directed by James Grieve. From nabokov
and the Bush Theatre, London Sixteen-year-old Kelly is having a normal
Saturday when her unknown father, who is Iraqi, turns up out of the
blue. He's smuggled a priceless antique from the Baghdad Museum and
wants Kelly to look after it. He's got a plane to catch, but Kelly
threatens to smash it unless he stays and gets to know her, launching
an epic journey of discovery in a tender and provocative play about
family, identity and the clash of cultures from rising star playwright
Mike Bartlett, writer-in-residence at the Royal Court and recipient of
a 2007 London Evening Standard nomination for best new playwright.
Wednesday, May 21 – Sunday, June 8
BLINK written Ian Rowlands and directed by Steve Fisher. From the
F.A.B. Theatre in Cardiff, Wales Set in Wales, UK, the initial
inspiration for BLINK was the events surrounding the Clywch enquiry - a
report into the systematic abuse of children at a Welsh language
school. BLINK is an edgy examination of the close-knit lives and lies
of a small south Wales community, whose secrets start with the rudey
club and end with '1 words that ruined a life.'
Thursday, June 5 – Sunday, June 29
THE HIRED MAN music and lyrics by Howard Goodall, Book by Melvyn Bragg,
directed by Daniel Buckroyd. From New Perspectives Theatre Company,
Nottingham Set in rural Cumbria in the early part of the twentieth
century, THE HIRED MAN tells the timeless, moving stor of a young
married couple and their struggle to carve a living from the land, just
as the rhythms of English country life are being interrupted by the
gathering storm of war in Europe. Featuring stunning traditional
British chamber music, this haunting, thrilling and stirring production
is unlike any musical on the NY stage.
Tuesday, June 10 – Sunday, June 29
VINCENT RIVER written by Philip Ridley and directed by Rebecca
McCutcheon. From Old Vic Productions, London Philip Ridley's (The
Pitchfork Disney; Fastest Clock in the Universe) gripping play about a
woman visited by a teenager who has some connection with the death of
her son. Engrossing, savage and darkly humorous, VINCENT RIVER explores
the classic Ridley themes of loss, sexual identity, the power of
narrative, the family as a destructive force and East London.
Tuesday, June 10 – Sunday, June 29
SOME KIND OF BLISS written by Samuel Adamson, directed by Toby Frow and
starring Lucy Briers. From the Trafalgar Studios, London. Rachel, a
small-time hack and seeker of minor adventure, sets off down the Thames
Path to Greenwich to interview British pop legend Lulu for
her tabloid's glossy supplement. But between London Bridge and Lulu's
mirrored hallway lies a series of unpredicted and comic events. Some
Kind of Bliss is a play about how a walk on an everyday Wednesday can
become an odyssey that turns your life upside down. It stars one of
London's finest young comedic actresses, Lucy Briers (who gave a scene-
stealingly wry performance as Mary Bennet in the BBC's "Pride and
Prejudice," with
Colin Firth).
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A
British weapons inspector (Julian Richings, left), a U.S. soldier (Maev
Beaty) and an Iraqi mother (Arsine Khanjian, right) tell their stories
in the Canadian Stage production of Palace of the End in Toronto.
