C.O.A.L. Premieres Tonight at 59E59 Theaters

59E59 Theaters welcomes Mary J. Davis and MBL Productions with C.O.A.L. (Confessions of a Liar), written by David Brian Colbert and directed by Craig Baldwin. C.O.A.L. (Confessions of a Liar) begins performances tonight, March 5 for a limited engagement through Sunday, March 22. Press opening is Wednesday, March 11 at 7:30 PM.

The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday & Saturday at 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $18 ($12.60 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.

There are lies we tell ourselves, and lies we tell others, and lies we tell just to make it through the day. A charming and witty liar, Coal, revisits his life in a small West Virginia town, introducing the dicey and colorful characters of his past, while attempting to come to terms with the lies he told to change his truth.

The cast features Lisa Bostnar (Triumph of Love at BAM), Evander Duck (Audelco Award-nominated Court-Martial at Fort Devens at New Federal Theatre), Mirirai Sithole (Broad City, Remix 38 at ATL Humana Festival), and Jackson Tanner (Little Miss Sunshine at Second Stage).

The design team includes Craig Baldwin (set design); Cory Pattak (lighting design); Elizabeth Caruso (costume design); and Luke Norby (projection design). The stage manager is Katie Kavett.

David Brian Colbert (playwright) is a native of North Carolina. He attended John's Hopkins University's Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore for voice and continued his musical studies while living and singing in Pisa, Italy, with the Corale Pisana. He studied acting and writing at the Einhorn School of Performing Arts in Manhattan. His play, C.O.A.L. (Confessions of a Liar) was developed during his time at ESPA and was chosen as the winner of the 2011 AracaWorks Competition. It was a selection of the Fundamental Theater Project for their Mass Rhetoric Reading Series and the Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights. A Rockwell Scholar, David was given the opportunity to work with Charles Busch, Kait Kerrigan, and Lucy Thurber. Other works: Eltinge (a musical - "First Look" reading at the Woodstock Fringe Festival); First Wedding Day (screenplay). His piece Sublet was featured as part of the New York, New Works series at the Parkside Lounge. Awards: 2004 Barrymore Award (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical); 2006 New York City NIGHTLIFE Award (Piano Bar Entertainer); 2008 MAC Award (Piano Bar Entertainer); 2011 MAC Award (Tech Director).

Craig Baldwin (director) was the first Australian to graduate from the prestigious theater program at The Juilliard School. He has gone on to act and direct extensively in New York and across the U.S. in theater, film and television. As a director, Craig has worked with Lincoln Center Theater, Roundabout Theater Company, Classic Stage Company, Atlantic Theater Company, Red Bull Theater, The Juilliard School, Stonington Opera House Arts, Atlantic Theater School, SUNY Purchase College, Shakespeare & Company, Origin Theatre Company, Outhouse Theatre Company, and many more. Craig's direction of the US premiere of The More Loving One by Cory Conley garnered the Best Play Award in the 2011 New York Fringe Festival. Craig was also responsible for the US premieres of Gordon Graham's The Boys and Mark Kilmurry's Mercy Thieves for Outhouse Theater Company. His own adaptation entitled Ingmar Bergman's Persona was featured at HERE Arts Center, and his adaptation MacB**h has been workshopped at Classic Stage Company and at Lincoln Center Theater Directors' Lab. Craig is co-creator and director of the web series "I [heart] Lucy". He has assisted directors Sam Gold, Brian Kulick, Jesse Berger and Joseph Hardy, among others. Upcoming projects include the English-language premiere of Mr. Bengt's Wife by August Strindberg for Strindberg Rep and Columbinus for Marymount Manhattan. Craig is currently Associate Artistic Director of Red Bull Theater, as well as Resident Director of Outhouse Theatre Company, an Associate Artist at Classic Stage Company and a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors' Lab. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Theater at Barnard College and Marymount Manhattan. In 2009, Craig was named an "artist of extraordinary ability" and made a permanent resident of the United States.

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