Epic Theatre Ensemble Announces Thomson's 'Palace'

NEW YORK, NY - Epic Theatre Ensemble (formerly Epic Theatre Center) announced today that it will present the New York Premiere of the new drama, Palace of the End by Judith Thompson.  It was also announced yesterday that the Thompson play is the 2008 winner of the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for playwrighting.

Commissioned and developed by Epic Theatre Ensemble, Palace of the End caps a distinguished 30-year career for the Canadian playwright.  Directed by Daniella Topol, the play will begin performances on June 11 at Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Playwrights Horizons.  Opening Night is set for June 23  as part of Epic's current 2007-8 Season.

Palace of the End is a powerful triptych of monologues that intimately explores the experiences of three key figures of the Middle East crisis: Lynndie England, the U.S. soldier who was convicted of abusing detainees at Baghdad's Alu Gharib prison; David Kelly, the British weapons inspector who allegedly committed suicide after being involved in a government scandal; and Nehrjas Al Saffarh, a member of the Communist Party of Iraq who suffered under Saddham Hussein's regime and died when the Americans bombed her home during the initial Gulf War.

Palace of the End was commissioned and developed by Epic Theatre Ensemble. It is based on the monologue play, My Pyramids by Judith Thompson, first read at the Toronto political cabaret, The Wrecking Ball. The premiere production was subsequently produced by Volcano at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, August 2005. Director: Ross Manson; Lynndie England: Waneta Storms; Lighting Designer: Rebecca Picherack; Stage Manager: JP Robichard. Palace was further developed with the Canadian Stage Company in Toronto where it received its Canadian Premiere in February, 2008.

Tickets will be available as of March 20th through TicketCentral by calling (212) 279-4200 or visiting www.ticketcentral.com. 

Winner of OBIE, Lucille Lortel and OTTO Awards, Epic Theatre Ensemble was founded in 2001 by Zak Berkman, Melissa Friedman, Teri Lamm, Ron Russell and James Wallert.  Additional Producing Artists are Godfrey L. Simmons Jr. and Sarah Winkler.  Epic's past productions include Nilaja Sun's No Child..., which Epic commissioned, developed and premiered before its commercial transfer and current national tour, as well as premieres of A Hard Heart by Howard Barker (featuring Kathleen Chalfant), Beauty on the Vine by Zak Berkman (featuring Epic Associates David Strathairn and Olivia Wilde), Hannah and Martin by Kate Fodor (featuring David Strathairn), Einstein's Gift by Vern Thiessen (featuring Aasif Mandvi and Shawn Elliott), Habitat by Judith Thompson and revivals of GB Shaw's Widowers' Houses (with Peter Jay Fernandez), Little Eyolf by Henrik Ibsen and Time and the Conways by J.B. Priestley.

The complete casting, design team and performance schedule for Palace of the End will be announced shortly.

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