2019 FRINGE ENCORE SERIES Kicks Off Next Week

Darren Lee Cole, producing artistic director of the not-for-profit, SoHo Playhouse and associate producer Matthew Quinn are proud to kick-off this year's Encore Series with a quartet of kick-ass shows including Anya Anastasia: The Executioners, Police Cops: Bad Ass Be Thy Name, Orpheus and Eurydice and Dandy Darkly's All Aboard! among the 18 productions featured this year.

In addition to getting New York debuts, each production is competing for Best of the Fest which includes coveted extended six-week run. The winners are voted on by a committee of theatre professionals and will be announced at the end of the festival. The run will take place during the spring season.

The first four to kick off the season include:

ANYA ANASTASIA: THE EXECUTIONERS

Written/directed by Anya Anastasia McNicol-Windram

Featuring Anya Anastasia McNicol-Windram & Gareth Chin.

Award-winning Australian musical-comedy maverick Anya Anastasia brandishes her razor-sharp satirical wit, gleefully attacking and dismembering the perils of the modern world, bringing a fierce and provocative new breed of contemporary comedy cabaret to the stage. The Executioners is a digitally enhanced millennial neo-cabaret laying naked the truth of technological overindulgence, sensory overload, and combatting our growing helplessness in the face of big issues. This is social and political satire at its most musically sublime as Anya and Gareth tackle the big issues armed with all manner of artillery; from swords to sitars, a degree in classical piano, soaring vocals, kung fu, deadly yoga moves, and virtuosic ukulele.

Awards: Made in Adelaide Edinburgh Award; Best Cabaret - Adelaide Fringe Weekly; Critics Choice Adelaide Fringe Weekly

"Punchy politics, hearty humour, and aural greatness. An intelligent and unorthodox performer with a lot to say about the world" Broadway Baby (Five Stars); "Brilliantly marries past and future takes on politics in which the urgent heartfelt, blood-and-sweat, passion-infused activism of the past meets socially pretentious and selfish causes rallying of today." Barefoot Review (5 stars)

Performances: Wed, November 27 at 7:00 PM (press); Fri, November 29 at 9:00 PM (press); Sat, November 30 at 5:00: PM; Sun, December 1 3:00: PM; on, December 2 at 7:00: PM; and Tue, December 3 at 7:00: PM

BADASS BE THY NAME

Created by Police Cops

Hot off the back of total sell-out runs at Edinburgh Fringe 2016, 2017, 2018 and Soho Theatre, London; multi-award-winning company Police Cops bring you their latest comedy blockbuster: Badass Be Thy Name. Gritty northern town: 1999. A kitchen sink drama turns into a vampire-slaying horror epic. Complete with a 90s rave soundtrack, supercharged physical comedy and more vampires that you can shake a stake at. Winners: Amused Moose Comedy Award 2018. ***** (Edinburgh Festivals Magazine). 'I paid £12, I would have paid £13' (Dara Ó Briain).

Performances: Sat, November 30 at 7:00: PM (press) Mon, December 2 at 9:00 PM (press); Wed, December 4 at 9:00 PM; Thu, December 5 at 9:00 PM; Fri, December 6 at 9:00 PM; Sat, December 7 at 7:00 PM; Sun, December 8 at 7:00 PM and Tue, December 10 at 9:00 PM.

DANDY DARKLY'S ALL ABOARD!

Written by and starring Dandy Darkly, directed by Ian Bjorklund.

Preeminent American storyteller Dandy Darkly makes his Off-Broadway debut with his political, hysterical hour of sugary sweet satire. Dandy Darkly's latest is a Georgia ghost story told by the survivors of that tragic Halloween night - from the little boy chased by the phantoms that haunt her as an adult to the cruel Colonel buried in his bunker, tinkering with his toys. Dandy Darkly's All Aboard! is an uprooting of Deep South shame alongside searing social commentary and Southern Gothic grotesquery: redneck robots, spider gods, beauty shops and inbred redneck freaks to create an utterly unique storytelling experience.

Awards: Best Show - Orlando Fringe and San Francisco Fringe; Producers' Encore Award- Hollywood Fringe; The Stage's Fringe's top performances- Edinburgh Fringe

"Of all American performers, none comes close to the creative eloquence of queer storyteller Dandy Darkly. All Aboard! is a wake-up call to mankind - taking out fame, the mob mentality of social media and the rise of the far-right around the world." a??a??a??a??a?? The Stage.

Performances: Fri, December 6 at 7 PM (press); Sat, December 7 at 9 PM (press); Sun, December 8 at 7 at PM; Mon, December 9 at 7 PM Tue, December 10 at 9 PM; Thu, December 12 at 9 PM; Sat, December 14 at 11 PM and Mon, December 16 at 7 at PM

ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE is co-written by Phil Grainger, co-written/ directed by Alex Flanagan Wright

Dave is stood at the bar, Bruce Springsteen on the stereo. Eurydice 5 years old holding a Superman costume. Internationally Award-Winning UK the makers, The Flanagan Collective & Gobbledigook Theatre, bring a modern retelling of an ancient myth for a North American Premiere. Wound from soaring, heart-pounding live music and searing spoken word, ORPHEUS & EURYDICE is a show for anyone who has fallen in love, and for anyone who has lost it.

Awards: Best Theatre -Adelaide Fringe Festival; Winner Adelaide Theatre Award; Winner FRINGE WORLD Best Theatre Award; Winner Best Pure Theatre Award -Sunday Mail; Winner City of Literature 'Beyond Words' Award - Dunedin Fringe; 'Best in Fringe' Award - Dunedin Fringe

Performances Wed, December 4 at 7 PM; Thu, December 5 at 7 PM; Fri, December 6 at 7 PM; Sat, December 7 at 7 PM; Sun, December 8 at 3 PM & 7 PM; Wed, December 11 at 7PM; Thu, December 12 at 7 PM; Fri, December 13 at 7 PM; December 14 at 7 PM; Sun, December 15 at 3PM & 7PM; Sun, December 15 at 7 PM; Wed, December 18 at 7 PM; Thu, December 19 at 7 PM; Fri, December 20 at 7 PM; Sat, December 21 at 7 PM; Sun, December 22 at 3 PM and Sun, December 22 at 7 PM

Featuring 18 award-winning productions, this year's Fringe Encore Series will feature ANYA ANASTASIA: THE EXECUTIONERS written/directed by` Anya Anastasia McNicol-Windram (Adelaide); TOMATOES TRIED TO KILL ME BUT BANJOS SAVED MY LIFE written by Keith Alessi (Vancouver); BADASS BE THY NAME created by Police Cops (Edinburgh); SOMETHING ABOUT SIMON - THE Paul Simon STORY written by and starring Gary Edward Jones (Edinburgh); DANDY DARKLY'S ALL ABOARD! written by Dandy Darkly (Orlando); ARCHIVE OF EDUCATED HEARTS written /directed by Casey Jay Andrews (Adelaide); MIL GRUS written by Ensemble Devised (Hollywood), LARRY written by and starring Candice Roberts (Vancouver); DESIREE'S COMING EARLY! written by and starring Desiree Burch (Edinburgh); ); INGENUE: DEANNA DURBIN, written by and starring Melanie Gall (Vancouver); GOODBYE written by John Mark Jernigan (Orlando); POCKETS by Robot Teammate (Hollywood), METAMORPHOSIS written/directed by Sam Chittenden (Brighton); ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE written by Alex Flanagan Wright and Phil Grainger (Adelaide), PRETENDING THINGS ARE A c*ckwritten/directed by Jon Bennett (Orlando), WILD DOGS UNDER MY SKIRT, written by Tusiata Avia (Auckland), THE MODERN MĀORI QUARTET: TWO WORLDS written by James Tito, Matariki Whatarau, Maaka Pohatu, and Francis Kora (Auckland), CONTOURS OF HEAVEN created by Ana Chaya Scotney, Puti Lancaster, Marama Beamish and Owen McCarthy (Auckland).

The Soho Playhouse's Fringe Encore Series will begin on November 27 and run through January 18. The SoHo Playhouse is located at 15 Vandam Street. Individual tickets are $39 and can be purchased by visiting FringeEncoreSeries.com. Fringe Encore Series ticket packages include 3 Shows for $59 plus fees (normally $117); 5 Shows for $95 plus fees (normally $195) and a Super Fan Unlimited Pass for every show in the Encore Series $149 plus fees (normally $546).

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