John Malkovich to Direct The Irish Rep's A CELEBRATION OF HAROLD PINTER, Starring Julian Sands

The Irish Repertory Theatre, in association with Nick Brooke LTD. and Pleasance, are proud to announce the return of Julian Sands (Room With a View, The Killing Fields, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) in A CELEBRATION OF HAROLD PINTER, directed by acclaimed actor and director John Malkovich (Places in the Heart, The Caretaker). Originally presented during The Irish Rep's 2012-13 Theater Season, the critically acclaimed solo show returns for a strictly-limited engagement from Tuesday, March 15th - Sunday, April 3rd, 2016. Tickets are on sale now through The Irish Rep box office at 212-727-2737 or online at www.irishrep.org.

The A CELEBRATION OF HAROLD PINTER will also mark The Irish Repertory Theatre's final performance at the DR2 Theatre (103 East 15th Street in Union Square). Since the Fall of 2014, The Irish Repertory Theatre has been in residence at the DR2 Theatre while a major theatre renovation took place at its home base on West 22nd Street in Chelsea. An announcement will soon be made about the productions that will mark the company's homecoming.

In A CELEBRATION OF HAROLD PINTER actor Julian Sands combines Pinter's poems and political prose with personal anecdotes and reflections drawn from their work together to create a fresh and intimate insight into the Nobel laureate's literary legacy.

In 2005 Mr. Sands was approached by Pinter to prepare a set of his poems for a special presentation in London. Working closely with Pinter, he was granted a rare insight into his personality, life, and work. After Pinter's death in 2008, the collaboration evolved into A CELEBRATION OF HAROLD PINTER. This evening debuted at the Edinburgh Festival in 2011, and subsequently was presented in New York at The Irish Repertory Theatre from October 10 - November 30, 2012. Mr. Sands, then making his New York stage debut, was honored with a 2013 Drama Desk award nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance. The production has toured through Britain and the U.S. -- with performances at Steppenwolf in Chicago, Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, and in Los Angeles -- as well as Mexico City, Budapest, and Paris.

A CELEBRATION OF HAROLD PINTER has lighting design by Michael O'Connor and wardrobe by Nicole Farhi.

A CELEBRATION OF HAROLD PINTER will be performed Tuesday, March 15th (press opening) through Sunday, April 3rd, 2016. The performance schedule will be Tuesdays at 7pm; Wednesdays at 3pm and 8pm; Thursdays at 7pm; Fridays at 8pm; Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm; and Sundays at 3pm.

British actor Julian Sands is frequently seen worldwide in films, on stage, and on television. He trained in London at The Central School of Speech and Drama and has appeared in over 100 films including; The Killing Fields, A Room With A View, Impromptu, Leaving Las Vegas, Arachnophobia, Oceans 13, and The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo. On television, known for his roles on 24, Smallville, Ghost Whisperer, Dexter and Banshee.

John Malkovich is an acclaimed film and stage actor, director, and producer. He has appeared in more than 70 motion pictures, and for his roles in Places in the Heart and In the Line of Fire, he received Academy Award nominations. Malkovich, a charter member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, made his New York stage debut in 1980 in the Steppenwolf production of the Sam Shepard True West, for which he won an Obie Award. Malkovich directed the Steppenwolf co-production of the 1984 revival of Lanford Wilson's Balm in Gilead, for which he received a second Obie Award and a Drama Desk Award. His Broadway debut that year was as Biff in Death of a Salesman alongside Dustin Hoffman as Willy. Malkovich won an Emmy Award for this role when the play was adapted for television by CBS in 1985. Films include: Empire of the Sun, The Killing Fields, Of Mice and Men, Rounders, Ripley's Game, Knockaround Guys, Being John Malkovich, Shadow of the Vampire, Burn After Reading, RED, Mulholland Falls, and Warm Bodies, as well as producing films such as Ghost World, Juno, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Harold Pinter was born in London in 1930. He lived with Antonia Fraser from 1975 until his death on Christmas Eve 2008 (They were married in 1980). After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the Central School of Speech and Drama, he worked as an actor under the stage name David Baron. Following his success as a playwright, he continued to act under his own name, on stage and screen. He last acted in 2006 when he appeared in Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by Ian Rickson. He wrote twenty-nine plays including The Birthday Party, The Dumb Waiter, A Slight Ache, The Hothouse, The Caretaker, The Collection, The Lover, The Homecoming, Old Times, No Man's Land, Betrayal, A Kind of Alaska, One For The Road, The New World Order, Moonlight and Ashes to Ashes. Sketches include The Black and White, Request Stop, That's Your Trouble, Night, Precisely, Apart From That and the recently rediscovered, Umbrellas. He directed twenty-seven theatre productions, including James Joyce's Exiles, David Mamet's Oleanna, seven plays by Simon Gray (one of which was Butley in 1971, and he directed the film version three years later) and many of his own plays including his last, Celebration, paired with his first, The Room at The Almeida Theatre, London in the spring of 2000. He wrote twenty-one screenplays including The Pumpkin Eater, The Servant, The Go-Between, The French Lieutenant's Woman and Sleuth. In 2005 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Other awards include the Companion of Honour for services to Literature, the Legion D'Honneur, the European Theatre Prize the Laurence Olivier Award and the Moliere D'Honneur for lifetime achievement. In 1999 he was made a Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature. Harold Pinter was awarded eighteen honorary degrees.

Co-founded by Producing Director Ciarán O'Reilly and Artistic Director Charlotte Moore, Irish Repertory Theatre opened its doors in September 1988 with Sean O'Casey's THE PLOUGH AND THE STARS. The Irish Rep is currently the only year-round theatre company in New York City devoted to bringing Irish and Irish American works to the stage. Recognized with the Jujamcyn Theatres Award, a special Drama Desk Award for "Excellence in Presenting Distinguished Irish Drama," an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Achievement, and the Lucille Lortel Award for "Outstanding Body of Work," the Irish Rep has celebrated the very best in Irish theatre for over twenty-five years, from the masters to the new generation of Irish and Irish American writers who are transforming the stage. Nearly 38,000 audience members annually attend productions at our theatre located in the heart of New York's Off Broadway community. Once here, they witness the Irish Rep's engaging perspective on the Irish and their unique contributions to the world of drama.

Tickets to A CELEBRATION OF HAROLD PINTER are priced at $70.00 and are on sale now through The Irish Rep box office by calling 212-727-2737, or online at www.irishrep.org.

Photo by Walter McBride

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