Lineup Announced For 15th Annual FRINGE ENCORE SERIES At SoHo Playhouse

Darren Lee Cole, producing artistic director of the not-for-profit, SoHo Playhouse and Associate producer Matthew Quinn are proud to announce the first round of selections for this year's Fringe Encore Series. The first set of productions hail from Adelaide, Auckland, Brighton, Hollywood, Edinburgh, Orlando, New Zealand & Vancouver and will feature some of the best productions from around the world. This year's Fringe Encores Series will take place between November 27 - January 18, 2020. Individual tickets are $39 and can be purchased by visiting FringeEncoreSeries.com.

Featuring 18 award-winning productions, this year's Fringe Encore Series will feature ANYA ANASTASIA: THE EXECUTIONERS written/directed by Anya Anastasia McNicol-Windram (Adelaide); TOMATOES TRIED TO KILL ME BUT BANJOS SAVED MY LIFE written by Keith Alessi (Vancouver); BADASS BE THY NAME created by Police Cops (Edinburgh); SOMETHING ABOUT SIMON - THE Paul Simon STORY written by and starring Gary Edward Jones (Edinburgh); DANDY DARKLY'S ALL ABOARD! written by Dandy Darkly (Orlando); ARCHIVE OF EDUCATED HEARTS written /directed by Casey Jay Andrews (Adelaide); MIL GRUS written by Ensemble Devised (Hollywood), LARRY written by and starring Candice Roberts (Vancouver); DESIREE'S COMING EARLY! written by and starring Desiree Burch (Edinburgh); ); INGENUE: DEANNA DURBIN, written by and starring Melanie Gall (Vancouver); GOODBYE written by John Mark Jernigan (Orlando); POCKETS by Robot Teammate (Hollywood), METAMORPHOSIS written/directed by Sam Chittenden (Brighton); ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE written by Alex Flanagan Wright and Phil Grainger (Adelaide), PRETENDING THINGS ARE A c*ckwritten/directed by Jon Bennett (Orlando), WILD DOGS UNDER MY SKIRT, written by Tusiata Avia (Auckland), THE MODERN MĀORI QUARTET: TWO WORLDS written by James Tito, Matariki Whatarau, Maaka Pohatu, and Francis Kora (Auckland), CONTOURS OF HEAVEN created by Ana Chaya Scotney, Puti Lancaster, Marama Beamish and Owen McCarthy (Auckland).

The Soho Playhouse's Fringe Encore Series will begin on November 27 and run through January 18. The SoHo Playhouse is located at 15 Vandam Street. Individual tickets are $39 and can be purchased by visiting FringeEncoreSeries.com. Fringe Encore Series ticket packages include 3 Shows for $59 plus fees (normally $117); 5 Shows for $95 plus fees (normally $195) and a Super Fan Unlimited Pass for every show in the Encore Series $149 plus fees (normally $546).

This year's Fringe Encore Series Shows

ANYA ANASTASIA: THE EXECUTIONERS

Written/directed by Anya Anastasia McNicol-Windram

Featuring Anya Anastasia McNicol-Windram & Gareth Chin.

Award-winning Australian musical-comedy maverick Anya Anastasia brandishes her razor-sharp satirical wit, gleefully attacking and dismembering the perils of the modern world, bringing a fierce and provocative new breed of contemporary comedy cabaret to the stage. The Executioners is a digitally enhanced millennial neo-cabaret laying naked the truth of technological overindulgence, sensory overload, and combatting our growing helplessness in the face of big issues. This is social and political satire at its most musically sublime as Anya and Gareth tackle the big issues armed with all manner of artillery; from swords to sitars, a degree in classical piano, soaring vocals, kung fu, deadly yoga moves, and virtuosic ukulele.

Awards: Made in Adelaide Edinburgh Award; Best Cabaret - Adelaide Fringe Weekly; Critics Choice Adelaide Fringe Weekly

"Punchy politics, hearty humour, and aural greatness. An intelligent and unorthodox performer with a lot to say about the world" Broadway Baby (Five Stars); "Brilliantly marries past and future takes on politics in which the urgent heartfelt, blood-and-sweat, passion-infused activism of the past meets socially pretentious and selfish causes rallying of today." Barefoot Review (5 stars)

TOMATOES TRIED TO KILL ME BUT BANJOS SAVED MY LIFE

Written by and starring Keith Alessi, directed by Erika Conway

Keith rose from an immigrant family to become a well known public company CEO. He had a lifetime passion for banjos but never learned how to play them. He retired from his CEO job only to find out two weeks later that he had a 50% chance of living a year. This true, inspirational story follows his journey as he learns to play and how he found healing in a circle of musicians in SW Virginia. The show is a testimony to the healing power of the arts and contains themes of forgiveness, the importance of pursuing passions and staying focused on the present, not the past.

Awards: Most Inspirational, Festival Spirit and Sold Out Show - NYC FRIGID Fringe; Spirit of the Fringe - Windsor-Walkerville Fringe; Top 3 Pick of The Fringe - Edmonton Fringe; Pick of the Fringe- Vancouver Fringe

BADASS BE THY NAME

Created by Police Cops

Hot off the back of total sell-out runs at Edinburgh Fringe 2016, 2017, 2018 and Soho Theatre, London; multi award-winning company Police Cops bring you their latest comedy blockbuster: Badass Be Thy Name. Gritty northern town: 1999. A kitchen sink drama turns into a vampire-slaying horror epic. Complete with a 90s rave soundtrack, supercharged physical comedy and more vampires that you can shake a stake at. Winners: Amused Moose Comedy Award 2018. ***** (Edinburgh Festivals Magazine). 'I paid £12, I would have paid £13' (Dara Ó Briain).

SOMETHING ABOUT SIMON - THE Paul Simon STORY

Written by and starring Gary Edward Jones

Paul Simon is a name that has cemented itself into the "hearts and bones" of audiences all over the world; his name has become synonymous, not only with music but with cultural history.

In Something About Simon, British singer-songwriter Gary Edward Jones authentically honors his idol Paul Simon featuring classic ballads like The Sound of Silence, America and Kathy's Song, to the more upbeat Wristband and The Boxer to the much-loved Bridge Over Troubled Water. The show will have you both reliving and rediscovering these great songs again.

Top Pick at Edinburgh Fringe. "Hugely enjoyable. Something About Simon is not a tribute show but simply a recognition of one the greatest `singer-songwriters of the last century. If you enjoy the music of Paul Simon, you'll love Something About Simon." The Edinburgh Reporter

DANDY DARKLY'S ALL ABOARD!

Written by and starring Dandy Darkly, directed by Ian Bjorklund.

Preeminent American storyteller Dandy Darkly makes his Off-Broadway debut with his political, hysterical hour of sugary sweet satire. Dandy Darkly's latest is a Georgia ghost story told by the survivors of that tragic Halloween night - from the little boy chased by the phantoms that haunt her as an adult to the cruel Colonel buried in his bunker, tinkering with his toys. Dandy Darkly's All Aboard! is an uprooting of Deep South shame alongside searing social commentary and Southern Gothic grotesquery: redneck robots, spider gods, beauty shops and inbred redneck freaks to create an utterly unique storytelling experience.

Awards: Best Show - Orlando Fringe and San Francisco Fringe; Producers' Encore Award- Hollywood Fringe; The Stage's Fringe's top performances- Edinburgh Fringe

ARCHIVE OF EDUCATED HEARTS

Written /directed by Casey Jay Andrews

How do you chart the remarkable moments that make up a lifetime? Scrawled diary entries, answerphone messages blinking on an old landline, a shoebox of postcards and cassette tapes winding yarns across years and continents. Honest anecdotes and true stories unfold alongside a sprawling photo album of memories - for a moment we're allowed a glimpse into the kindness and courage behind four women facing breast cancer.

This collection of heartfelt stories is the delicate eye in a storm of grief, guilt and gratitude. Andrews weaves honest narratives, lyrical spoken word, and verbatim recordings to create a show that exposes the fragments of absolute joy and incomprehensible heartbreak that colour our day-to-day. "A show of quiet fragile magic" (The List).

Awards: Fringe First Award - Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2018; Best Theatre Weekly Award - Adelaide Fringe 2019; Critic's Choice 2019
Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2019

MIL GRUS

Written by Ensemble Devised, directed by Dean Evans

Featuring Grayson Morris, Helene Udy, Jeremy Sapp, Magi Calcagne, Isaac Kessler.

Mil Grus is an LA-based ensemble that has developed an original style of physical satire. This visual, visceral show is unique every time. Blending Bouffon, sacred clowning, spectacle, and physical theater Mil Grus acts as a mirror to society and forces us to laugh at our fears and weaknesses. It's hard to say for sure what will happen at a Mil Grus show, but it will be surprising and satisfying.

LARRY

Written by Candice Roberts, directed by Candice Roberts, Deanna Fleysher, Kat Single-Ddain Featuring Candice Roberts

LARRY wants to prove that he can be "woke" enough for the empowered woman of his desires, but in a moment of accidental transcendence, uncovers a startling surprise in his psyche. A complex, bold and very funny portrait of a hoser's foray into feminism. Comedy artist Candice Roberts uses her alter ego LARRY to explore her experiences growing up as a female in rural B.C. in the 1980s. Culled from the male archetypes that surrounded her during her upbringing, Larry helps her investigate gender stereotypes-and makes people laugh. (Strobe, nudity, coarse language, rock and roll).

Awards: Pick of the Fringe - Edmonton; Pick of the Fringe - Vancouver; Artistic Risk Award - Vancouver

DESIREE'S COMING EARLY!

Written by and starring Desiree Burch, directed by Sarah Chew

Have you ever been caught in a loop?

OMG, seriously this is getting boring. Like, how many times do we have to fix this trash only to have to fix it again? When is stuff just, like, ever going to change? Does every revision require, like, a friggin revolution or something? Or does pushing too hard just wind up sending you right back to the beginning? And what if everything really is just the same thing forever?

Comedian and storyteller Desiree Burch (Netflix, Live at the Apollo, Radio 4) was born late, bloomed late, and generally has difficulty with the present moment. At a moment in recent history where decades of societal progress swung right back around to authoritarianism and disintegration, Desiree embarks on a spiritual journey of mythically ridiculous proportions into the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, to figure out how she, and all of us, have gotten here, and maybe, possibly, hopefully, fix the suckiness for us all.

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