Edie Falco and Alison Pill to Star in NAKED ANGELS' This Wide Night, Opens 5/16

Two-time Golden Globe and three-time Emmy Award-winner Edie Falco and Tony nominee Alison Pill will star in the Naked Angels-produced American premiere of This Wide Night, by Blackburn Prize-winning playwright Chloe Moss, directed by Anne Kauffman. Previews begin May 8, 2010 and the play will officially open at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre (416 West 42nd Street) on May 16, 2010. This Wide Night will run through June 20, 2010.

This Wide Night will be the first play in a full season of compelling new works produced by Naked Angels in celebration of its 25th Anniversary as one of the most innovative theatre companies in New York. The remaining productions of the Naked Angels 25th Anniversary Season will be announced at a later date.

THIS WIDE NIGHT
By Chloe Moss
Directed by Anne Kauffman
Starring Edie Falco and Alison Pill
at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre
Previews begin: May 8, 2010; Opening Night: May 16, 2010

A prison sentence isn't over once you leave jail. Having just begun to rebuild a life on the outside, Marie (Pill) is confronted with her past when former cellmate Lorraine (Falco) shows up unannounced on her doorstep. The two outcasts, once so close on the inside, struggle to navigate a friendship beyond the prison walls - which may threaten their prospects to start over. This Wide Night is a heartfelt and witty portrait of two lost souls trying to find their way in an unforgiving world.

This Wide Night was commissioned and first produced by Clean Break - a London-based theatre company that works with women affected by the criminal justice system - and premiered to critical acclaim in July 2008 at The Soho Theatre in London. The Times in London called the play "comic, colorful, full of pain and tenderness and truth. Raw and riveting." In 2009 the play was awarded the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize honoring women playwrights in the English-speaking theatre.

The creative team for This Wide Night includes Rachel Hauck, Scenic Design; Emily Rebholz, Costume Design; Matt Frey, Lighting Design; Robert Kaplowitz, Sound Design; Deborah Hecht, Dialect and Vocal Coach; Desiree Maurer, Props Master; Melanie Ganim, Production Stage Manager; and Dave Nelson, Production Manager.

Artistic Director Geoffrey Nauffts says, "We are thrilled to be bringing two actresses of such immense talent to Naked Angels for the American premiere of this provocative work by one of Britain's most exciting voices. Edie Falco is a long-time friend of the company, and in addition to being the perfect person to play this courageous and heartbreaking character, she is extremely passionate about this project and its message of the complexity of friendship and starting over. The raw energy and nerve that Alison Pill brings to her acting makes her the ideal complement to Edie, and we can't wait to see the sparks fly between them onstage in this powerful award-winning new drama."

Naked Angels' chief aspiration is the strengthening of a community of artists through the development and production of provocative new work.

Naked Angels was formed in 1986 by a group of restless and ambitious artists reacting to a void in the theatre community for new and creative voices. The name Naked Angels was taken from the John Tytell book, which described Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and other Beat poets of the 1950's as "a generation that wanted to break out of convention and scream." Sometimes outraged, often irreverent, occasionally absurd, and always intelligent, enthusiastic and fun, Naked Angels continues to be a vital, thriving crossroads where talented theatre artists collaborate: the destination of choice for those seeking a truly celebratory theatrical experience.

Dedication to the emerging artist has led to the company's reputation for developing and producing outstanding, innovative plays. Naked Angels' latest production, Next Fall, written by Naked Angels Artistic Director Geoffrey Nauffts, played a sold-out, critically-acclaimed run Off-Broadway in the summer of 2009 at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, extending three times, and opened on Broadway on Thursday, March 11th at the Helen Hayes Theatre to further critical acclaim.

Naked Angels is led by Geoffrey Nauffts (Artistic Director), John Alexander (Managing Director), Andy Donald (Associate Artistic Director) and Brittany O'Neill (Producer).

Performances for This Wide Night begin May 8, 2010 and will continue through June 20, 2010. This Wide Night opens on May 16, 2010.

This Wide Night will play the following performance schedule:
Tuesday - Friday at 7:30 PM; Saturday at 2 PM and 7:30 PM; and Sunday at 2 PM and 7 PM. The Peter Jay Sharp Theatre is located at 416 West 42nd Street.

Tickets are $70; for reservations call (212) 279-4200 or visit www.ticketcentral.com.

Edie Falco (Lorraine) was nominated for the 2010 Golden Globe and SAG Awards for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her leading role in the hit Showtime comedy "Nurse Jackie." She is the only actress to ever receive the Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Awards in the Leading Actress, Drama category in the same year for her performance as "Carmela Soprano" in the groundbreaking debut season of the HBO series "The Sopranos." She has subsequently been nominated for each award for each eligible television season, winning two additional Emmy Awards, another Golden Globe Award and SAG Award as well as the American Film Institute's award for Female Television Actor of the Year. She was the first woman to receive the Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Drama. Other television credits include recurring roles in the HBO dramatic series "Oz" and the acclaimed NBC series "Law and Order" and "Homicide." Ms. Falco made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning play Sideman, which she originated in its off-Broadway production, and which garnered her a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play. She made her London stage debut in the West End premiere of Sideman, and thereafter opened the London production of the highly successful play The Vagina Monologues. She also starred on Broadway opposite Stanley Tucci in the lauded revival of Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune and opposite Brenda Blethyn in the first revival of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, ‘Night, Mother. Ms. Falco's film credits include Cost of Living (American Film Institute's Best Actress Award), John Sayles' Sunshine State (Los Angeles Film Critics Association and New York Film Critics Online Award for Best Supporting Actress), Laws of Gravity (Independent Spirit Award Nomination for Best Female Lead Actor), A Price Above Rubies, Copland, Trouble on the Corner, Private Parts, Hurricane, Layin' Low, Breathing Room, The Funeral, The Addiction, Bullets Over Broadway, Trust, The Unbelievable Truth, Random Hearts, and the title character in the award-winning film Judy Berlin. She can be seen in the feature films The Quiet, The Great New Wonderful, and the Freedomland. Her most recent film 3 Backyards was shown at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

Alison Pill (Marie) has recently been seen on Broadway starring as Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker opposite Abigail Breslin. Alison also appeared on Broadway in Mauritius and in the Off-Broadway hits reasons to be pretty and Blackbird, for which she received Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League nominations. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her Broadway debut in The Lieutenant of Inishmore and for a Lucille Lortel Award for On the Mountain. She won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble in the U.S. premiere of The Distance from Here and starred in an Off-Broadway run of None of the Above. Film work includes Scott Pilgrim vs The World, Milk, Dan in Real Life, Dear Wendy, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and Pieces of April. Television includes "In Treatment" (HBO), "The Book of Daniel" (NBC), "Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows," and the upcoming miniseries "The Pillars of the Earth."

Anne Kauffman (Director). Anne most recently directed a production of Becky Shaw at The Wilma Theater in Philadelphia. Currently, she is working with The Civilians on You Better Sit Down: tales from my parent's divorce. She will be directing This Wide Night for Naked Angels and DOT for Clubbed Thumb this summer. Also, she will be working with Yale Rep this fall to direct a new musical, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, based on the novel by Shirley Jackson. In 2011, she will be directing two of JorDan Harrison's works Maple and Vine and The Flea and the Professor. More recent credits include: Stunning by David Adjmi for Lincoln Center Theater 3 and she won an OBIE Award for her work on The Thugs by Adam Bock at Soho Rep (TimeOut NY, New York Sun top 10 productions of 2006). Past productions: Communist Dracula Pageant by Anne Washburn at American Repertory Theater, Dan LeFranc's Sixty Miles To Silver Lake in NYC, God's Ear by Jenny Schwartz at the Vineyard and New Georges, Stunning with Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Have You Seen Steve Steven by Ann Marie Healy with 13P, Expecting Isabel by Lisa Loomer, Doubt at Asolo Repertory Theater, Act A Lady by JorDan Harrison at the Humana Festival of New Plays, Sides: The Fear is Real (commercial run) at the Culture Project, Typographer's Dream by Adam Bock at the Encore Theater (San Francisco Chronicle top 10 productions of 2005), The Loyal Opposition by Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas at the New York Theater Workshop, Hang Ten by Karen Hartman at Women's Project & Productions, and The Ladies by Anne Washburn with The Civilians at Dixon Place and Cherry Lane Theater. Anne has worked at Playwrights Horizons Theater, New York Theater Workshop, Manhattan Theater Club, CSC, The Vineyard, The Public, Rattlestick, New Georges, Clubbed Thumb, American Conservatory Theater, A.R.T., The Guthrie, Sundance Institute. She received a "Big Easy" award in New Orleans for her production of The Children's Hour at Loyola University. She is a Usual Suspect at New York Theatre Workshop, an alumnus of the Soho Rep Writers and Directors Lab, Lincoln Center Directors Lab, The Drama League of New York, a founding member of The Civilians and was a 2003-2004 New Dramatist Resident Director and a member of New Georges Kitchen Cabinet. She is also on the directing faculty at NYU in the Playwrights Horizons Theater Studio. Anne received her MFA in directing from UCSD.

CHLOE MOSS' (Playwright) first play A Day in Dull Armour was produced by The Royal Court Theatre and won their Young Writers Festival in 2002. Chloe's next play How Love is Spelt premiered at the Bush Theatre, London in the autumn of 2004 and was awarded a special commendation by the Susan Smith-Blackburn Prize. The play went on to receive its US premiere at the Summer Play Festival, New York in 2005. Chloe's other plays include Christmas is Miles Away, which premièred at the Manchester Royal Exchange in 2005, transferred to the Bush Theatre in 2006 and received it's US premiere with Babel Theatre Project in New York in 2009; The Way Home, produced by the Liverpool Everyman, 2006 and Catch, a collaborative piece written with four other playwrights (April De Angelis, Laura Wade, Stella Feehily, and Tanika Gupta), which premiered at The Royal Court, 2006. In 2008 Chloe's play This Wide Night, produced by Clean Break and presented at Soho Theatre, was awarded the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. The play was revived in the Autumn of 2009 to wide critical acclaim. Chloe was writer-in-residence at the Bush Theatre, London in 2003 and Paines Plough in 2004. She then completed an attachment at the Royal National Theatre and is currently under commission to the Royal Court, Clean Break Theatre Company and the Everyman Theatre. Chloe has written TV shows for Tiger Aspect and Kudos Film & TV and is currently writing for Lime Pictures.

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Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

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