Blethyn, Buggy and Cooke Lead HAUNTED At Brits Off Broadway at 59E59

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) welcomes the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester to Brits Off Broadway with the US premiere of Edna O'Brien's HAUNTED, directed by Braham Murray. HAUNTED begins performances on Wednesday, December 1 for a limited engagement through Sunday, January 2. Press opening is Wednesday, December 8 at 7 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday & Wednesday at 7 PM; Thursday & Friday at 8 PM; Saturday at 2 PM and 8 PM; and Sunday at 3 PM and 7 PM. The regular ticket price is $60 ($42 for 59E59 Members). Preview tickets are $45 ($31.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org. For more information, visit www.britsoffbroadway.com.

Holiday Performance schedule: Friday, December 24 and Friday, December 31 at 7 PM. Saturday, January 1 at 8 PM only. There is no performance on Saturday, December 25.

When a captivating young woman enters the life of the quixotic Mr. Berry, his desperation to ensure her return causes him to declare his wife dead and give away her clothes in exchange for elocution lessons. But as the very much alive Mrs. Berry searches for a reason for her rapidly diminishing wardrobe, Mr. Berry finds both his relationships under threat.

Edna O'Brien's "enchanting" (The Observer, London) new play is brought to life by an exquisite cast. Two-time Academy Award-nominee Brenda Blethyn stars as Mrs. Berry. Internationally acclaimed actor Niall Buggy (Broadway's Translations) plays Mr. Berry. Beth Cooke, making her New York debut, plays Hazel.

Production design is by Simon Higlett. Lighting design is by Johanna Town. Sound design is by Pete Rice. Video design is by Jack James. Akintayo Akinbode is the composer. The fight director is Renny Krupinski.

Edna O'Brien (playwright) was born in County Clare, educated by the Sisters of Mercy in Galway and graduated as a pharmacist before going on to write her first controversial novel THE COUNTRY GIRLS in 1960. Since then she has written over twenty-five books, including WILD DECEMBERS, IN THE FOREST, a biography of James Joyce and most recently, BYRON IN LOVE. Her plays include A PAGAN PLACE (Royal Court, London), VIRGINIA (on the life and writings of Virginia Woolf at Haymarket London), IPHIGENIA (Crucible, Sheffield), OUR FATHER (Almeida, London), FAMILY BUTCHERS (Magic Theatre, San Francisco) and TRIPTYCH (Southwark Playhouse, London). Awards include Yorkshire Post, Los Angeles Times, Writers' Guild of Great Britain, Irish Pen, the European Prize for Literature, Ulysses Medal from University College Dublin and American National Arts Gold Medal.

Braham Murray (Director) is a Founding Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre Company for whom he has directed over 65 productions. In 1964, his Oxford production of HANG DOWN YOUR HEAD AND DIE transferred to the West End and Broadway. From the Century Theatre, where he was Artistic Director, he became a Founding Director of the '69 Theatre Company; credits include SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER and CHARLEY'S AUNT (with Tom Courtenay) and Mary Rose (with Mia Farrow). Productions include UNCLE VANYA (Tom Courtenay and Amanda Donohoe, Circle in the Square Theatre, New York), THE GOOD COMPANIONS (John Mills and Judi Dench), THE BLACK MIKADO (Michael Denison), ANDY CAPP (Tom Courtenay and Alan Price), THE CABINET MINISTER (Maureen Lipman) and LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN (all West End). Other credits include THE DYBBUK, RIDDLEY WALKER, WAITING FOR GODOT (Max Wall and Trevor Peacock), HAMLET (Robert Lindsay), MAYBE (Vanessa Redgrave), THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, PEER GYNT and RIDDLEY WALKER (David Threlfall), MISS JULIE and HEDDA GABLER (Amanda Donohoe), OTHELLO with Paterson Joseph and Andy Serkis, HOBSON'S CHOICE with John Thomson, Trevor Peacock and Joanna Riding, THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE and the world premieres of SNAKE IN FRIDGE and COLD MEAT PARTY by Brad Fraser. He also directed the North America premiere of COLD MEAT PARTY for Factory Theatre, Toronto. Braham's recent productions for the Royal Exchange Theatre include THE BACCHAE, CHARLEY'S AUNT, TRUE LOVE LIES, THE GLASS MENAGERIE, which completed a national tour in 2008 and world premiere of HAUNTED, which has also just completed a UK tour in 2010. He directed the World Premiere of SKELLIG, the opera, for The Sage, Gateshead. In 2007 he directed Brenda Blethyn in Alan Bennett's TALKING HEADS for an Australian tour. His autobiography THE WORST IT CAN BE IS A DISASTER is published by Methuen Drama. He received an OBE in January 2010 for services to drama.

 

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