AboutFACE Premieres of THE GODS OF THE OZARKS

AboutFACE are delighted to announce the World Premiere of "The Gods of the Ozarks" byMatthew Cole Kelly this August at the Studio Theatre at the Civic in Dublin, Ireland.

Set in 1800's frontier America, this fast-moving and highly theatrical black comedy uses a cast of eight to tell the story of a small-town community as it gets wrapped up in a religious furore. Jonah Hahn is the only doctor for 300 miles around ... but the religious ban on cutting up dead bodies holds back his medical understanding. When his darling wife Sally gets sick and people in town start dying, Jonah has to reconsider ... but his secret escapades have unexpected consequences for the whole town, including his faith-questioning daughter, a struggling pastor, an unlikely sheriff, an heiress, a drunkard and a harlot.

Featuring ghosts, grave-digging and amateur con-artistry, this hilarious tale of faith and knowledge, grief and solace, and promises and lies, examines the battle between science and religion (even after death...)

"We are so excited to be premiering this funny, fast-moving and insightful new comedy," said AboutFACE Co-Artistic Director Anna Nugent. "Filled with humour, heart and big thought-provoking ideas, it feels like an Epic. When we had the reading at our NEWvember Festival last year, it got a fabulous response, so we can't wait to share this really exciting new play with the Civic's audience."

Originally developed at AboutFACE's NEWvember New Plays Festival in 2018, this marks the company's first world premiere of a show from NEWvember.

Established in Dublin in 2002, AboutFACE moved to New York in the 2000s, establishing the hugely successful NEWvember new writing platform which ran from 2011-15 in partnership with New York's Tangent Theatre, with plays that were selected for the Festival going on to Off Broadway productions. They are delighted to be back 'home' at the Civic, where they produced five Irish premieres between 2003-2005, including acclaimed productions of "Collected Stories", "The Glory of Living" and "The Laramie Project".

The show's cast includes Megan Day, Darina Gallagher, Maureen O'Connell, Paul Nugent, David Ryan, Mark Tankersley, Kathleen Warner Yeates and Helena White, and will be directed by Anna Nugent. The creative team includes dramaturgy by Krystal Sweedman, photography by Graham Keogh, graphic design by Charlie Kranz, set design by Jenny Owens with Alessia Licate, lighting design by Brian Nutley, sound design by Max Bley & Leon Henry and costume design by Tara McKeever of Tootsie Royale. The show is production managed by Yvonne Ussher with stage managers Faith Boucher & Fiona Cradock.

Matthew Cole Kelly's plays have been featured Off-Broadway including at the Metropolitan Playhouse, the Abingdon Theatre and at the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival, and have been nominated for awards including the Woodward/Newman Drama Award and the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference.

For more info on AboutFACE see: www.aboutfaceireland.com

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