Brandon Cole's IMPERFECT LOVE Extends at The Connelly Theater

Due to popular demand, The Left Wing, in association with John Turturro, extends the world premiere production of Brandon Cole's Imperfect Love to February 25. Directed by Michael Di Jiacomo, Imperfect Love is inspired by the tumultuous life of the great Italian actress Eleonora Duse (1858-1924) and her nine-year love affair with the poet and playwright Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863-1938). The production, which is set to open on February 4, runs at The Connelly Theater and features set and costume design by the Academy Award-winning Italian designer Gianni Quaranta (Merchant-Ivory's A Room with a View). Turturro's 1998 film, Illuminata, which was co-written by Cole and Turturro, was based on Cole's Imperfect Love.

A story of love and betrayal set just over 100 years ago,Imperfect Love centers on the volatile relationship between leading actress Eleonora Della Rosa and her playwright lover Gabriele Torrisi. They, along with a classically trained actor and two Comedia dell'Arte clowns, are artists at the crossroads of a theatrical epoch. As they work diligently to salvage their current production, the troupe grapples with changing times and evolving tastes as the psychological realism of Ibsen and Strindberg grow in popularity. In the end, matters of theater and matters of the heart come together to a climax both affirming and bitter-sweet. The play's the thing. At least, until the curtain falls.

The cast forImperfect Love includes Cristina Spina (Martha Clarke's Kaos), Rodrigo Lopresti, Aidan Redmond (The Cripple of Inishmaan), Ed Malone (Irish Repertory Theatre), and David O'Hara.

In addition to set and costume designer Gianni Quaranta, the creative team includes Jon DeGaetano (lights).

Imperfect Love was first presented in 2000 with a cast that included Peter Dinklage. Since that time, the play has been reconceived and significantly re-written for this world premiere production at The Connelly Theater.

Performances of Imperfect Love will continue through February 25 (see schedule above) at The Connelly Theater, located at 220 E 4th Street in Manhattan. Critics are welcome as of Wednesday, January 31 for an opening on Sunday, February 4 at 3pm. Tickets, priced at $39-$49 general/$25 student and rush, can be purchased by visiting imperfectlove.net or by calling 800-838-3006.

Brandon Cole (playwright) is an established playwright and director. Born in Chicago and raised in New York, he co-wrote the Cannes Camera d'Or winner Mac with John Turturro. He has written a dozen theatrical productions which have been performed worldwide, including Nothing Works; as well as the feature films OK Garage, Divine Mercy and Pete Smalls is Dead.

Michael Di Jiacomo (director) is a director and writer living in New York City. He started his career working with MacArthur Genius Award-winning dance theater and opera director Martha Clarke. His first feature film, Animals, starred Tim Roth, John Turturro, and Rod Steiger. His second feature, Somewhere Tonight, starring John Turturro, premiered at Karlovy Vary and won awards in Europe and the US. In the fall of 2015 his play, The Man Who Isn't There, had a critically acclaimed four-month run in Holland and starred Johanna ter Steege.

With what was his third Academy Award nomination, Gianni Quaranta (sets & costumes) won the Oscar for Production Designer for the film A Room with a View, by James Ivory, and has enjoyed a long and esteemed career as a director, production designer, set designer, costume designer and creative designer in the worlds of cinema and theatre - lyrical, prose and ballets - in advertising and creative project development for various artistic exhibitions. Highly regarded in both Europe and America, great theatrical and performing artists such as Carla Fracci, Alessandra Ferri, Luciana Savignano, Ekaterina Maximova, Vladimir Viktorovich Vasiliev, James Urbain, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Roberto Bolle, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Josè Cura, Marcello Giordani, Eva Marton, Giulia Gertzeva, Teresa Stratas, Barbara De Maio, Daniela Dessi have danced or sung on sets designed by him or have been directed by him or dressed in his costumes. He also has great achievements in cinema. Among some of the movies where he has worked as production designer are Tempest by Paul Mazursky, Brother Sun, Sister Moon and Jesus of Nazareth both by Franco Zeffirelli, with whom he has worked for about 17 years on nearly all his movies and theatrical productions; 1900 by Bernardo Bertolucci, Dancers by Herbert Ross, Farinelli by Gerard Corbiau, The Comfort of Strangers by Paul Schrader, Marquise by Vera Belmont, The Legend of the Holy Drinker by Ermanno Olmi, and many others. He has received many international awards, among the most important, besides the Oscar, two Baftas (British Academy Award), the César (French academy award), three Nastro D'Argento (Italian Award of Excellence), the Prix d'Honneur (at the Berlin International Festival), the Italian Association of Critics Award, and others. He has greatly contributed to improving the international reputation of the arts, a fact that has been recognized in his receiving the title of Commander of Italian Republic.

Cristina Spina's (Eleonora Della Rosa) off-Broadway credits include Texts&beheadings / ElizabethR by Karin Coonrod (Bam Next Wave / Folger Theatre) The Threepenny Opera directed by Martha Clarke (Atlantic Theater Company) and Kaos by Frank Pugliese, directed by Martha Clarke (New York Theatre Workshop). Credits in Italy include War, Bizzarra, The Brothers Karamazov, An Inspector Calls, My Name is Rachel Corrie, The Trojan Women, Orestes, The Holiday Trilogy, Orgy, Il Candelaio, That Terrible Mess in Via Merulana, The Wedding, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, and Measure for Measure. Film appearances include La Via Degli Angeli, Cuore Altrove, Hecuba, The Italian Race, AND Father. She received the Premio Stampa Teatro award for best actress in 2006. In 2016, she directed her first short film So Be It. The film went on to win first prize at the RIFF Rome Independent Film Festival and at the Smita Patil Film Festival in Pune, India.

Rodrigo Lopresti (Gabriele Torrisi) is an award-winning Actor, Director, Musician, & New York Filmmaker. Theatre: Stephen Hancock's 4am Redmond & Meda, Force Majeure (InViolet Rep), Untying Love, The Ninth Circle. Just wrapped shooting The Man In The Woods directed by Noah Buschel and stars in Miguel Ortega's Multi-Award Winning Film The Ningyo. Past Film: Women Who Kill, A Song Still Inside, 4am Redmond & Meda (Winner Best Short LAAFF), I'm Not Me, wrote/directed (Winner Zero Film Fest/Audience Choice Award & Grand Jury Prize), You're Gonna Feel Funny After written by Noah Buschel, Gus Van Sant's Last Days, The Imperialists Are Still Alive, Tom DiCillo's Delirious, The Missing Person. TV: Heart Brakers stars/directs, Castle Rock, The Sinner, Vinyl, Blindspot, Blue Bloods, Pan Am, The Black Donnellys.

Aidan Redmond (Domenica) is originally from Ireland. Favorite roles include Dr. McSharry in The Cripple of Inishmaan at the Cort Theatre on Broadway, Laius/Laurence/Langos in Sam Shepard's last play, A Particle of Dread (Oedipus Variations) with Signature Theatre Company, and an ongoing exploration of the works of Teresa Deevy with The Mint Theatre Company including Wife To James Whelan, Temporal Powers and The Suitcase Under The Bed. Also, Harold Pinter's Betrayal with Mile Square Theatre in Hoboken. Film and television work include, '79 Parts, Daylight, I Sell The Dead, and the popular Netflix show, Daredevil.

Ed Malone (Marco) is a playwright, director, actor, clown and buffoon who was born and raised in Cork City, Ireland. He graduated from L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq and the celebrated clown school of Phillppe Gaulier in Paris, before moving to New York in 2007. He is also a Member of the Dramatists Guild. He has appeared in at the Irish Repertory Theater in New York, Theater for a New Audience, and has given several solo performances at Stage Left. His solo play The Three Irish Widows Versus The Rest of the World received three sold-out runs in New York City in 2010. For television, Malone recently co-starred in Lipstick Jungle on NBC.

David O'Hara (Beppo) played the role of Jerry Devine in the Irish Repertory Theatres critically acclaimed production of Juno and the Paycock. He trained at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York City with the tutelage of David Mamet and Giancarlo Esposito et al.

Photo Credit: Richard Termine