Daniel Kitson Returns to St. Ann's Warehouse with American Premiere of KEEP

St. Ann's Warehouse continues its 40th Anniversary Season December 4-19 with the American Premiere of Keep, the latest solo work by the "consistently and enthrallingly surprising" "monologuist extraordinaire" Daniel Kitson (Ben Brantley, The New York Times). The British storyteller and comedian has a rich, decade-long shared history with St. Ann's, which has presented four beloved Kitson works, including The Interminable Suicide of Gregory Church (2011), It's Always Right Now, Until It's Later (2012), Analog.Ue (2013), and Mouse: The Persistence of an Unlikely Thought (2016). Kitson describes Keep, the latest entry in his singular body of work, as a story about "the stuff in my house and the thoughts in my head."

Kitson explains that Keep is "about how much past the present can usefully contain. About rigor and generosity. About postcards and hair pins and a certificate from Harry Ramsden's in Blackpool. About how long it takes to stop noticing where you are. About the compromise of a full life and the burden of a full heart and how it's impossible to know where looking back will lead. About the task of being who we are without denying who we've been. About the importance of regret and the possibility of hope and the delusional idea of starting again. About all the books I've never read and all the jam I've ever eaten and the bags of torn tickets and the drawers of empty pens and the inevitable sadness of ever holding on to anything."

Kiston's unique and acclaimed "story shows" skirt the worlds of theater and standup. The Telegraph deems him "the reluctant hero of British comedy...one of the funniest, most intelligent and perceptive comics ever to pick up a mic." Rolling Stone writes, "Kitson's incredible command of language and craft is apparent whether mulling the death of an aunt or a scathing review of his act, as he swirls in and out of odd tangents. And his presence remains riveting...He laid the groundwork for talented storytellers including Mike Birbiglia." In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, actor and comedian David Cross called Kitson "honestly the funniest comic I've ever seen in my life." His most recent performance at St. Ann's Warehouse, the gentle Mouse: The Persistence of an Unlikely Thought, took place the night after the 2016 election. With warmth and heart, Kitson held and comforted the audience with a "densely woven tale about a small life thick with loneliness...[a] story of literary heft and design" (Time Out NY).

St. Ann's Warehouse Artistic Director Susan Feldman says of Kitson's return, "Daniel is good for the soul, engaging us in a mutual revelation of sweet and elusive things in life. With self-reflective humor, he shines a light on us as well, both literally and figuratively, as he fudges the line between reality and imagination."

Keep Performance Schedule, Tickets, and Running Time

Performances of Keep take place December 4-7, 10-14, and 17-19 at 8pm and December 8 & 15 at 5pm.

All tickets are $25 and can be purchased now at stannswarehouse.org, 718.254.8779, and 866.811.4111.

St. Ann's Warehouse is located in Brooklyn Bridge Park at 45 Water Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.