Impetuous Theater & The Brick Present THE VIGIL or THE GUIDED CRADLE Opens 4/24

Impetuous Theater Group & The Brick Theater, Inc. present THE VIGIL or THE GUIDED CRADLE: A play about torture. Written by Crystal Skillman. Directed by John Hurley. 

www.impetuoustheater.org

A Medieval mercenary tortures a terrorist in 15th Century Prague while a young tourist in the 21st Century befriends a mysterious translator. A play about the danger of crossing over, THE VIGIL or THE GUIDED CRADLE is a chilling portrait of the art of torture--its future created by its past.

Featuring Outer Critics Circle nominee Susan Louise O'Connor with Dion Mucciacito, Christian Rummel, Travis York, Vinnie Penna, Alex Pappas & Joseph Mathers. In previews April 22-23, opening April 24th through May 8th, 2010 Thursday - Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 7pm. Only at The Brick, 575 Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Tickets available now at http://www.bricktheater.com or by calling Theatermania (212-352-3101)

All tickets $18 (previews $12)

"{in the guided cradle} the accused was sat on top of a pyramid-shaped seat, with the point implanted rudely in their naked nether regions. Some theories suggest the idea was to stretch and slowly impale the victim...Others reckon the emphasis lay on hoisting and repeatedly lowering the victim onto the tip, varying the pressure while keeping them awake." http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com

When playwright Crystal Skillman saw this instrument set up in the Torture Museum in Prague, she knew it immediately spoke to the torture techniques used today. The Vigil or The Guided Cradle goes between now and then in an examination of how humans create devices in the past, present and for the future to torture one another.

Written in the MCC Theater Playwrights' Coalition, The Vigil or The Guided Cradle has been workshopped in the 24/Seven Lab, read in the Committee Theatre's Taste Reading Series, selected for hotINK 2008, workshopped in a mini-workshop at New Georges, as well as Rattlestick Playwright's Theatre, Culture Project, the Need Theatre in LA and just named a semi-finalist in the Castillo Theatre's 2010 Mario Fratti-Fred Newman Political Play Contest.

Susan Louise O'Connor (Actor) Blithe Spirit on Broadway (Theatre World Award winner, Dorothy Loudon Broadway Debut Fellowship winner, Outer Critics Circle Nomination). Off Broadway credits include: Children at Play, Apostasy & Marion Bridge, What to Do When You Hate All Your Friends, Walk Two Moons, Never Swim Alone, See Bob Run, St. Scarlet, Susan Gets Some Play, Mail Order Bride and Nerve. Regional credits include: Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Huntington Theatre, Barrington Stage & Portland Stage. Winner of the NYC Fringe Festival's best actor award for the one-woman show, Take. Two-time NY Innovative Award nominee and winner for lead actress in Packawallop's the silent concerto.

Impetuous Theater Group (http://www.impetuoustheater.org) is a member based independent theater company dedicated to producing new work in New York with emerging artists through ensemble, creation of family, and education. ITG was founded in 2004, awarded People of the Year 2005 by nytheatre.com and recently named one of the "10 to Watch in 2010" by Broadwayworld.com. Past productions include After Darwin, 12th Night of the Living Dead, Swim Shorts 3, The Chronological Secrets of Tim, Fenway, A Night Near the Sun, Office Sonata and Venezuela (fringeNYC 2005). ITG's annual 47:59 Play Festival has been touted as "changing the face of the 24 Hour Play Formula" by nytheatre.com.

Crystal Skillman (Playwright) Her plays include: Hack (Vampire Cowboys' 2009-10 Saloon Series, also w/director John Hurley), Birthday, Nobody and The Telling Trilogy, (directed by Daniel Talbott for Rising Phoenix Rep); The Sleeping World (developed by: Lincoln Center Directors Lab, Rattlestick, Flux, Woodshed Collective); and Kiss (Side Project, CH). An Innovative Theatre Award nominee, as well as finalist for the Yale Drama Series, she is the recipient of two Alfred P. Sloan/E.S.T Project commissions: The Ballad of Phineas P. Gage (HERE) and Flow, recently read at the Working Theater (Director: Nicole A. Watson). She has been commissioned by Vampire Cowboys to write a new full length that will be produced by the company in an upcoming season.

John Hurley (Director) For Impetuous Theater Group: After Darwin by Timberlake Wertenbaker, 12th Night of the Living Dead adapted by Brian Smallwood. For Vampire Cowboys Saloon: Hack by Crystal Skillman. For Nosedive: Ten Year Twilight. For Boomerang Theatre: Artist Descending a Staircase by Tom Stoppard, and All's Well that End's Well. For APAC: Measure for Measure and As You Like It. For Gideon: The Lucretia Jones Mysteries by Mac Rogers. John is the current Artistic Director of Impetuous Theater Group.

Only at The Brick

Winner of The New York Innovative Theatre Awards' 2009 Café Cino Fellowship Award!

The Brick is located at 575 Metropolitan Avenue (between Union Avenue and Lorimer Street) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on the L & G subway lines (L: Lorimer stop; G: Metropolitan stop). For, see http://www.bricktheater.com.