Anna Manahan Returns to New York in Sept. for Sisters

Tony Award-winning actress Anna Manahan will head to 59E59 Theaters for the critically hailed play Sisters, written by Declan Hassett and directed by Michael Scott.  The show begins previews on Tuesday, September 12 for a limited engagement through Sunday, October 15.   The press opening is Sunday, September 17 at 3:15 PM. 

"Manahan creates two extraordinary portraits of sisters Martha and Mary, in two acts that outline the resentments, regrets and secrets of these two women whose lives have taken very different turns. Set in '50s Ireland, Sisters is a story of disappointed love, brutal passion and the horrific consequences of two women's lives," state press notes.

Award-winning journalist Hassett (playwright) is the former Arts Editor of the Irish Examiner. He is also author of the memoir trilogy All Our Yesterdays, The Way Were and Passing Through. His hit play Up the Rebels, the story of Cork GAA, was a sell-out in Dublin in 2000.  He wrote the play Sisters specifically for Manahan.

Director Scott has been Theatre Director of the Project Arts Centre, Programme Director of the Dublin Theatre Festival and Director of the Tivoli Theatre, Dublin. Currently he is Artistic Director of the City Theatre Dublin.

Manahan received a Tony Award for her performance in The Beauty Queen of Leenane on Broadway. Other roles include: the titular role in Big Maggie, which John B. Keane wrote for her; Alice in Happy Birthday Dear Alice, Bessie Burgess in The Plough and the Stars at The National Theatre, London; and Hannah in Brian Friel's Lovers, for which she  was nominated for a Tony Award in 1968.  She has been seen in numerous TV shows and films.  The Freedom of Waterford City was conferred on  Manahan in April 2002 in recognition of her contribution and achievements in the Arts. She recently received an honorary doctorate from the University of Limerick.

The performance schedule is Tuesday -Friday at 8:15 PM; Saturday at 2:15 PM and 8:15 PM; Sunday at 3:15 PM.  Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison).  Single tickets are $40 ($28  for 59E59 members) and are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.ticketcentral.com.