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A CurtainUp Review
Brits Off-Broadway Festival--2008
| The fifth season of US premieres of UK theater will feature eight productions, three by Scotland's top playwrights and the program's ever musical. The festival will run 4/23/08 through 6/29/08.Wednesday, April 23 and runs through Sunday, June 29. The single ticket price for each show ranges from $27.50 to $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. Below is a list of shows, with performance dates and brief details. More details about actors and performances will be added as soon as available, as well as links to shows which we will review. This s page is therefore a work in progress. BRITS OFF BROADWAY at 59E59 Theaters www.59E59.org or www.britsoffbroadway.com 212-279-4200 —elyse sommer |
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, written to be performed with absolutely no set and no props, just four actors.
Cast: Nailini Chetty, Andrew Scott Ramseay, Keith MacPherson and Beth Marshall.
Performance Schedule: Tuesday to Friday 8:30 pm; Saturdays 2:30 and 8:30 pm, Sundays 3:30 and 7:30 pm.
Tickets: $37.50 ($26.25 59e59 members)
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.
Cast: Alexandra Mathie, Neal Barry, Nicola Harrison and Neil McKinven
Performances: Tues to Friday 8:15pm; Saturday 2:15 and 8:15 pm and Sunday 3:15 and 7:15 pm
Tickets: $37.50 ($26.25 59e59 members)
Review of Damascus by Elyse Sommer.
Wednesday, May 7 Sunday, June 1 Theater A, DAMASCUS written by David Greig, directed by Philip Howard. Winner of prestigious Scotsman Fringe First Award from the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting, Black Hawk Down) stars as an English language textbook salesman on assignment to the oldest continuously inhabited city on earth. Grappling with language and love, meanings and misconceptions. Joining Mr. Bremner in the cast are Nathalie Armin, Alex Elliott, Dolya Gavanski, Khalid Laith. Anthony MacIlwaine (sets and costumes), Chahine Yavroyan (lighting) and Graham Sutherland (sound). Original music is composed and arranged by Jon Beales. Tuesday Friday at 8:00 PM; Saturday at 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM; and Sunday at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM. Tickets are $47.50 ($33.25 for 59E59 Members).
>review of Artefacts in London Tuesday, May 20 Sunday, June 8 ARTEFACTS written Mike Bartlett, directed by James Grieve.Cast: Peter Polycarpou, Mouna Albakry, Karen Ascoe, Amy Hamdoon and Lizzy Watts. The production is designed by Lucy Osborne, with lighting by Hartley T A Kemp and original music by Arthur Darvill. 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.
Blink Review
Wednesday, May 21 Sunday, June 8. BLINK written Ian Rowlands and directed by Steve Fisher. Cast: Rhian Blythe, Lisa Palfrey and Sion Pritchard. Rhys Jarman (production designer), Trevor Turton (lighting designer) and Gareth Potter (sound designer). 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 '12 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. Cast: Richard Colvin, Lee Foster, Katie Howell, Simon Pontin, David Stothard, Claire Sundin, Stuart Ward and Andrew Wheaton. Review Set in rural Cumbria in the early part of the twentieth century, THE HIRED MAN tells the timeless, moving story 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 Review VINCENT RIVER written by Philip Ridley and directed by Steve Marmion. 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. Our Review 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).
Try onlineseats.com for great seats to
Wicked
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Lion King
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The Playbill Broadway YearBook
Leonard Maltin's 2007 Movie Guide
Wicked
Jersey Boys
The Little Mermaid
Lion King
Shrek The Musical
The Playbill Broadway YearBook
Leonard Maltin's 2007 Movie Guide