Morris Panych's THE DISHWASHERS Comes To 59E59 5/8

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) is thrilled to kick off the Americas Off Broadway festival with the NYC premiere of Morris Panych's THE DISHWASHERS, directed by Byam Stevens. THE DISHWASHERS, from the Chester Theatre Company (Chester, MA), begins previews on Friday, May 8 for a limited engagement through Sunday, June 7. Opening Night is Wednesday, May 13 at 8:15 PM. Single tickets for the shows in Americas Off Broadway go on sale on Wednesday, April 15. 5-Star Cards are available now by calling 212-753-5959 ext 102, Monday - Friday from Noon - 6 PM.

The performance schedule is Tuesday at 7:15 PM, Wednesday - Friday at 8:15 PM; Saturday at 2:15 PM and 8:15 PM and Sunday at 3:15 PM. The regular ticket price is $35($24.50 for 59E59 Members). A 5-StarCard (one ticket to each show in the festival) is available for $100 ($85 for 59E59 Members). Tickets are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.ticketcentral.com. For more information visit www.59E59.org.

Dressler scrambles to keep the basement scullery of an upscale eatery functioning, marshaling his rag-tag team with a stream of hilarious rhetoric and old-fashioned working class pride. His fellow wage slaves, the ancient Moss and the downwardly mobile Emmett, just can't seem to grasp his inspirational style. Playwright Morris Panych walks a razor's edge between comedy and tragedy chronicling the plight of men working in the lower depths of a high end restaurant.

The Valley Advocate called the Chester Theatre Company production of THE DISHWASHERS a "poignant wide-angle view of the plight of the working man!" And the Pittsfield Gazette said the production captured the play's exploration of class and purpose with "effective wry observations." And the Berkshire Bright Focus called it "almost magical!"

The cast of THE DISHWASHERS features Tim Donoghue, Jay Stratton, John Shuman and Jeff Vatore. The design team includesCharles Corcoran (set), Jill Nagle (lights), Arthur Oliver (costumes) and Tom Shread (sound).

A native of Edmonton, Alberta, Morris Panych (playwright) is arguably Canada's most celebrated playwright and director. His plays have garnered countless awards including two Governor General's Literary Awards for Drama (Canada's most prestigious literary honor) for The Ends of the Earth and Girl in the Goldfish Bowl, fourteen Jessie Richardson Awards, three Sidney Riske Writing Awards and five Dora Mavor Moore Awards. Productions of the much lauded Vigil (Auntie And Me), Girl in the Goldfish Bowl, Seven Stories andLawrence And Holloman are currently being mounted throughout Canada, the US, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. His groundbreaking work, The Overcoat, is currently touring worldwide, and its film version, which Mr. Panych also directed, won an honorable mention at the Prix Italia. He recently premiered two new plays: Benevolence at Tarragon Theatre in Toronto and The Amorous Adventures of Anatole at The Vancouver Playhouse.

Byam Stevens (director) has been the Artistic Director of the Chester Theatre Company since 1998. For CTC he has directed the World Premieres of: The Darlings, Home Fires Burning, The Plains of Ilion, John and Teddy. Other productions for CTC: The Dishwashers,Grace, Two Rooms, The Nina Variations, Tea For Three, An Almost Holy Picture, Valley Song, The Interrogation of Nathan Hale, Shirley Valentine, and the American Premiere of Sixteen Words For Water. Other directingcredits include: the Off Broadway production of The Bully Pulpit, starring Michael O. Smith as Teddy Roosevelt; the World Premiere of the Off Broadway hit Carbondale Dreams by Steven Sater; The Underlings by Tom Fontana and the American Premiere of Beef by David Pownall. Byam's writing projects have ranged from the Civil War play Holdouts to American Letters, a stage adaptation of Andrew Carroll's acclaimed Letters of a Nation. For American Ballet Theatre, he collaborated with ABT Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie to write, produce and direct the film, Exactly As I Imagined It, a tribute to choreographer Kenneth McMillan. He was an Associate Producer on HBO's "Latin Kings: A Street Gang Story," directed by 11 time Emmy winner Jon Alpert. With Susan
Jaffe of American Ballet Theatre, he is the co-founder of DanceText, a curriculum designed to develop the acting and performance skills of dancers. Currently he is mentoring two ballerinas at ABT under the auspices of an Annenberg Foundation grant. He is a member of Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SSDC).

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