ABSOLUTION Comes To 59E59 Theatres 9/8-10/3

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) is proud to announce the US premiere of ABSOLUTION, written by Owen O'Neill and directed by Rachel O'Riordan. Produced by Gúna Nua (Dublin, Ireland) and part of 1st Irish at 59E59 Theaters, ABSOLUTION begins performances on Wednesday, September 8 and runs through Sunday, October 3. Press Opening is Sunday, September 12 at 7:30 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Wednesday at 7:30 PM; Thursday - Friday at 8:30 PM; Saturday at 2:30 PM and 8:30 PM; Sunday at 3:30 PM and 7:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison). Tickets are $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 Members) and are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.59E59.org.

In ABSOLUTION, the innermost thoughts of a vicious serial killer are exposed. Is he an avenging angel on a divine mission or a mass murderer?

With brutally clinical accounts of his victims, ABSOLUTION is a challenging, often shocking, and captivating tale of a man who has taken upon himself the sins of so many, and has unleashed on them a terrible vengeance.

Written and performed by Owen O'Neill, a Perrier Award-winning comic, ABSOLUTION premiered at the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe to great acclaim. The Times called it "grimly riveting." Joyce McMillan, writing in The Scotsman, said, "O'Neill's text has a driving narrative energy so fierce it almost smells of burning flesh."

ABSOLUTION comes to 59E59 Theaters and the annual 1st Irish Festival from Dublin-based theater company, Gúna Nua, who were seen in New York earlier this year with the Best of Edinburgh Award-winning production of Little Gem at The Flea Theatre.

Hailing from Tyrone County, Northern Ireland, Owen O'Neill (playwright/performer) is a Perrier Award-winning stand-up comic, poet, actor and playwright. A stand up comic since 1986, he is a regular headlining act playing all the major Comedy Clubs in Ireland and the UK, and at comedy festivals throughout the world. ABSOLUTION is the seventh production for theatre that he has written and performed. He has also written critically acclaimed drama and comedy series for television (BBC, CH4 and Granada), including The Fitz. His other plays include Finding Mick Jagger, It Was Henry Fonda's Fault, My Son The Footballer!, No Place Like Home, Owen O'Neill is a ***t and so is Seamus Heaney, Shouting From The Scaffold and the semi-autobiographical Off My Face, winner of the LWT Comedy Writing Award at the Edinburgh Festival (1997). His play Patrick's Day, co- written with Sean Hughes, won the Edinburgh Critics' Award for Best Comedy (1991). Adaptations for the stage include Twelve Angry Men and The Shawshank Redemption, co-written with Dave Johns, which had an outstanding season in The Gaiety Theatre followed by a premiere in the West End in 2009, returning to The Gaiety in May 2010. He produced and co-starred in the production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest starring Christian Slater, which launched at the Edinburgh Fringe and later transferred to the West End where it ran for six months.

Rachel O' Riordan (director) returns to 59E59 Theaters after directing the critically acclaimed Hurricane at the inaugural Brits Off Broadway in 2004. Her directing credits include: Over the Bridge (Green Shoot, Belfast); Transparency (Ransom, OMAC & Touring); The Gentleman's Tea-Drinking Society (Ransom, Nominated for Best New Play 2010 Irish Times Theatre Awards); ABSOLUTION (Theatre Tours International); The Winners (Ransom, OMAC and touring); Animal Farm (Peter Hall Company, Theatre Royal, Bath); This Piece of Earth (Ransom, Irish tour and Edinburgh Festival, British Council Showcase 2007); Much Ado About Nothing (Lyric); The Early Bird (Ransom, Belfast Festival); Everything Is Illuminated (Hampstead Theatre); Miss Julie (Peter Hall Company, Theatre Royal, Bath); Merry Christmas Betty Ford (Lyric, Belfast); The Half (Ransom, Belfast Festival and The Helix, Dublin); The Glass Menagerie (Lyric Theatre, Belfast); Elizabeth-Almost By Chance a Woman (Kabosh Theatre, touring and Project, Dublin); Protestants ( Soho Theatre, London); Hurricane (Ransom, Arts Theatre, West End and 59E59 Theaters); Group (Edinburgh Festival). As Associate Director: Sir Peter Hall's Measure for Measure, Theatre Royal, Bath and RSC ‘Complete Works' Season. Awards include: 2003 ‘Best Production' Winner (Tron Theatre) and 2004 ‘Best Touring Production' Nominee (Manchester Evening News) for Hurricane; 2004 ‘Best Production' Nominee (Dublin Theatre Festival) for Elizabeth. She was nominated as ‘Best Director' in the 2007 TMA Awards for Much Ado About Nothing. Rachel trained at the Royal Ballet and the Central School of Speech and Drama and she holds a PhD on Shakespeare from the University of Ulster. She is Artistic Director of Ransom.

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