IPHIGENIA IN SPLOTT, Starring Sophie Melville, Set for 'Brits Off Broadway' Series at 59E59 Theaters

59E59 Theaters will welcome the critically acclaimed IPHIGENIA IN SPLOTT at the 2017 Brits Off Broadway festival. Written by Gary Owen, directed by Rachel O'Riordan, and produced by Sherman Theatre, Cardiff (where it originated), IPHIGENIA IN SPLOTT begins performances on Tuesday, May 9 for a limited engagement through Sunday, June 4. Press Opening is Sunday, May 14 at 3:15 PM.

You think you know her, but you don't know the half of it. Effie's life is an out-of-control spiral through drink, drugs, and drama every night, with a hangover worse then death every morning. Until one night, Effie's given the chance to be something more.

Inspired by the enduring Greek myth, Gary Owen's "dramatic sucker-punch" (The Financial Times) drives home the high price people pay for society's shortcomings. Called "perfect theater" by The Guardian, the play comes to New York from its sold out run at The National Theatre after wowing audiences in Cardiff and Edinburgh.

This "painfully vivid" and "devastatingly funny" (Evening Standard) play features Sophie Melville, in a "kinetic" (Time Out London) performance, as the "brawling, big-hearted, raging" (The Guardian) Effie.

The design team includes Hayley Grindle (production design); Rachel Mortimer (lighting design); and Sam Jones (sound design). The production stage manager is Veronica Aglow.

The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:15 PM; Friday at 8:15 PM; Saturday at 2:15 PM & 8:15 PM; and Sunday at 3:15 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $25 ($20 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or visit www.59e59.org.

Gary Owen's (playwright) credits include Killology (Sherman Theatre and the Royal Court); Iphigenia in Splott (Sherman Theatre and The National Theatre); Love Steals Us From Loneliness (Sherman Theatre and National Theatre Wales); Amgen/Broken and A Christmas Carol (Sherman Theatre); We That Are Left, Mrs Reynolds & the Ruffian, Perfect Match (Watford Palace); Free Folk (Forest Forge); The Shadow of a Boy, Big Hopes (The National Theatre); Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco (Paines Plough); Ghost City (Sgript Cymru); In the Pipeline (Òran Mór); The Drowned World (Paines Plough); Cancer Time (503); Sk8 (Theatre Royal, Plymouth); Blackthorn (Clywd Theatr Cymru); Mary Twice (Bridgend Youth); Bulletproof (Replay, Belfast); La Ronde, Spring Awakening (Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama); and Violence & Son (Royal Court). Television credits include "Baker Boys" (co-writer). Awards: Meyer Whitworth Award (The Shadow of a Boy); George Devine Award (The Shadow of a Boy); Fringe First Award (The Drowned World); Pearson Best Play Award (The Drowned World); UK Theatre Award for Best New Play (Iphigenia in Splott); James Tait Black Prize for Drama (Iphigenia in Splott). Gary is Associate Artist: Writer at Sherman Theatre and is a Creative Associate at Watford Palace Theatre.

Rachel O'Riordan (director) is the Artistic Director of Sherman Theatre, for whom she has directed The Weir, Bird, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, A Doll's House, Iphigenia in Splott (UK tour/ National Theatre), Romeo & Juliet, and Arabian Nights. Before joining the Sherman, she was Artistic Director at Perth Theatre where work included: Macbeth (Perth/Tron); The Seafarer (Perth/Lyric); The Odd Couple (Female Version); Moonlight and Magnolias, Someone Who'll Watch Over Me (CATS Best Director nominee); and Twelfth Night. She won the CATS Award for Best Director for The Seafarer and Best Director at the First Irish Theatre Festival Awards for Absolution. Iphigenia in Splott won both the UK Theatre Awards 'Best New Play' and the James Tait Black prize. It was the first production from Wales to transfer to the NT. Other work includes: Unfaithful (Traverse Theatre); The Absence of Women (Tricycle, UK Theatre Awards Best Director nominee); Hurricane (West End/59E59 Theaters); Everything Is Illuminated (Hampstead Theatre); Miss Julie, Animal Farm (Peter Hall Company); Absolution (Guna Nua/First Irish NY); Much Ado About Nothing (UK Theatre Awards Best Director nominee), The Glass Menagerie, Merry Christmas Betty Ford (Lyric, Belfast); A Christmas Carol, Gates of Gold, Grimm Tales (Library Theatre, Manchester); Over the Bridge (Green Shoot/Waterfront Hall, Belfast, Irish Times Theatre Awards Best Director nominee); Elizabeth - Almost By Chance a Woman (Project, Dublin); Protestants (Soho Theatre); Arguments for Terrorism, Cold Turkey at Nana's (Òran Mór). Opera includes NI5 for Northern Ireland Opera at the MAC, Belfast.

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