OUT OF ICELAND, Starring Michael Bakkensen, Lea DeLaria, et al., Receives Off-Broadway Premiere Beginning 3/24

Alfred R. Kahn, in association with Culture Project (Allan Buchman, Artistic Director), will present the Off-Broadway Premiere of Out of Iceland by Drew Larimore, directed by Josh Hecht. Michael Bakkensen, Jillian Crane and Lea DeLaria star. Out of Iceland will begin previews March 24^th Off-Broadway at Walkerspace (46 Walker Street, between Broadway and Church). Opening night is set for Sunday April 1^st (7pm).  This limited engagement runs through Sunday April 22^nd.

Out of Iceland will have scenic design by Narelle Sissons (All My Sons, Roundabout; How I Learned To Drive, Vineyard, Century Center; Stop Kiss, Julius Caesar and Little Flower of East Orange, Public Theatre), lighting design by Paul Whitaker, costume design by Jennifer Caprio, original music by Ryan Rumery, and sound design by Ryan Rumery and M. Florian Staab.

Caroline Miller (Crane), an established writer from New York, is at a loss for words when she falls off an Icelandic volcano and awakes on the couch of a complete stranger. Hal Tanker (Bakkensen) is the misplaced cowboy in charge of the grounds who nurses her back to health. Then there's Thor (De Laria), Iceland's flamboyant troll who crawled out of the television one night to warn her about something – or did she imagine that? When their truck mysteriously disappears in the middle of “The Middle,” Hal and Caroline must face their biggest fears in a long night in one of the most mystical places on earth. Out of Iceland is a modern day fairy tale set at the end of the earth.

Michael Bakkensen’s Broadway credits include Noises Off, Festen, and The Man Who Came to Dinner. Among his Off- and Off-Off credits: World Premiere of RX (Primary Stages), The Secret of Mme. Bonnard’s Bath (Kirk), The Paris Letter (u/s Roundabout),Tales of Doomed Love (West End), Waxing West (Lark) and Alarms (Here). Regional: Premieres of Ether Dome (Alley Theatre), The School of Night (Mark Taper Forum), Brian Friel’s The Home Place (Guthrie), Indoor/ Outdoor, also Shakespeare Theatre DC, CENTERSTAGE, Arena, Hartford Stage, ACT, Alliance, Alabama & NJ Shakespeare, Hangar. Film: On The Slope (indie), Memoria Mortalis (Sundance) TV: “Law & Order(s)”, “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Guiding Light,” “Stage on Screen.”

 Jillian Crane has performed in leading roles at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Huntington Theatre and Trinity Repertory Theatre. She created the role of The Woman in the premiere of Sam Shepard’s short play, It Wasn’t Proust at The Matrix Theater in Los Angeles. Other roles include Queen Anne in Circle X’s Edward II at The Actors Gang, Beth in Dinner With Friends at The Vineyard Playhouse, Ophelia in Fortinbras at The 78^th Street Theatre Lab. Most recently, she was seen in the Ensemble Studio Theater’s Winterfest reading of Touch written by Drew Larimore and in The Blank Theater’s Living Room Series reading of Out of Iceland. She went on to develop the part of Caroline in Out of Iceland with the playwright at The Telluride Playwright’s festival. Ms. Crane’s film credits include Election (dir. Alexander Payne); Hamlet  (dir. Campbell Scott); The Great New Wonderful (dir. Danny Leiner); and Great Kills Road, directed by the Dutch director, Tjebbo Penning. Her TV credits include "The Practice," "Law and Order Criminal Intent," and "Homicide."

Lea DeLaria’s Broadway credits include On the Town (Obie, Theatre World and Drama Desk nominee), The Rocky Horror Show. Off-Broadway/Regional: Prometheus Bound (ART), On the Town, Midsummer Night’s Dream (McCarter Theater), As You Like It(Williamstown Theater Festival), Happy Days (Drama League Honoree), Little Fish, Cinderella (NY City Opera), The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told; Encores! and Reprise!: Li'l Abner, Boys from Syracuse (Ovation nominee). National tour: Chicago. Film: Edge of Seventeen, The First Wives Club, Sgt. Bilko, Rescuing Desire, Mercury in Retrograde, Fat Rose & Squeaky, Bass Ackwards.Television: "Californication," “One Life To Live,” “The?Oblongs,” “Law & Order: SVU,” "Will & Grace," "Friends," "Further Tales of the City," “Matlock,” “Saved By The Bell: The New Class.” Misc: Featured Vocalist for the 50th Anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival; Four CD’s from Warner Jazz; Lea’s Book of Rules is in it’s 3^rd printing with Dell Publishing.  www.delariadammit.com

Drew Larimore is thrilled to have Out of Iceland, which has been developed all over the country, to make its world premiere with the Culture Project. His ten-minute play The Quintessential  Rapport was a finalist in the 2002 National Ten-Minute Play Competition and in 2006 his full-length TOUCH was awarded an EVVY Award for “Best Dramatic Script.”  He has received staged readings through The Blank Theatre Company, Ensemble Studio Theatre-LA, The Bridge Theatre Company, City Attic Theatre, Studio 42, The Acting Company & Artistic New Directions.  Drew’s short plays have been produced in New York and Australia, both with the Eclectic Theatre Festival in Midtown’s Theatre 54 and the Short & Sweet New Play Festival in Melbourne and Sydney.  Drew’s short film, C U @ ED’S, was a finalist at the USA Short Film Competition and has screened in more than twelve festivals throughout the country, winning the “Audience Award” in the DC Shorts Fest.  In 2009, Drew was a finalist for The Lark Theatre’s Playwrights Week 2009, a semi-finalist for the P73 Playwriting Fellowship & also a finalist for the 2010 O’Neill Theatre Conference. A former member of Ensemble Studio Theatre-LA’s Playwrights Coalition, he is currently a member of The Writer’s Room, an urban writer’s colony, in NYC.

Josh Hecht is a Drama Desk Award-winning director of new plays. New York: The Duke on 42nd (Wearing Lorca's Bowtie, a devised piece), New World Stages (Bradford Louryk's Christine Jorgensen Reveals – Drama Desk Award, GLAAD Award nomination), MCC Theater (Bob Morris's Assisted Loving), The Cherry Lane (Megan Mostyn-Brown's Girl), 13P (Winter Miller's The Penetration Play), the DR2 (Anna Ziegler's BFF), PS 122 (Joseph Keckler's Jobz), Ars Nova (The Gay Agenda), NYMF, Partial Comfort, Joe's Pub, the Ontological and others. Upcoming: Jake Jeppson's The Clearing (Axial) and Amandine (Dixon Place/Cherry Lane). Regional: Humana Festival (Allison Moore's Slasher), Guthrie Theater (Megan Mostyn-Brown's Lizards...), Berkshire Theatre Festival (Rachel Schroeder's Heliantha), Kennedy Center (Ping Chong and Co's Inside/Out – writer/performer), Boston Center for the Arts (Christine Jorgensen – IRNE nomination), Axial Theater Company (Howard Meyer's Welcome) and Half Moon (Annie Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation). Develops plays at MCC, NYTW (where he is a Usual Suspect), Playwrights Horizons, Primary Stages, The Kennedy Center, The Public Theater, Rattlestick, LAByrinth, New Georges, The Geva, New Dramatists, New York Stage and Film, the O'Neill, the Playwrights Center, the New Harmony Project, the Orchard Project, Voice and Vision, P73, JAW at Portland Center Stage and many others. For 5 years, he was the Director of Playwright Development at MCC Theater where he helped found and run the Playwrights Coalition. More recently, he was the Director of New Play Development at WET. He is an alumnus of the Soho Rep Writers/Directors Lab and the LCT Directors Lab.

Alfred R. Kahn was the founder 4Kids Entertainment, Inc., a global provider of children’s entertainment and merchandise licensing. Mr. Kahn is a leading figure in the licensing industry, responsible for many of its biggest hits, including Cabbage Patch Kids, Pok?mon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Yu-Gi-Oh!  In June 2005, Mr. Kahn was inducted into the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA) Murray Altschuler Licensing Hall of Fame.  Mr. Kahn’s Broadway credits include, Associate Producer of, Lombardi. He is also represented on Broadway in the following productions, Gypsy, West Side Story, The Addams Family, All My Sons, and Priscilla Queen of the Desert. In 2002, Mr. Kahn created the National Law Enforcement and Firefighters Children’s Foundation to carry out his dream of helping children who have lost a parent in the line of duty.  The non-profit foundation directly helps the children of law enforcement personnel and firefighters, as well as helping fund programs, such as anti-drug and anti-violence programs, to benefit all children. Additionally, Mr. Kahn serves on the Board of Directors of the Stephen Gaynor School and Long Island University. Mr. Kahn is currently in pre-production for a new play based on the best selling book The Boys of Summer.

Culture Project is dedicated to addressing critical human rights issues by shining an artistic spotlight on injustice. Founded by Allan Buchman in 1996, Culture Project has premiered celebrated shows including The Exonerated, Sarah Jones’ Bridge & Tunnel, Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom, Lawrence Wright’s My Trip To Al-Qaeda, Tings Dey Happen, the Lucille Lortel Award-winning world premiere of George Packer’s Betrayed, and Temple University’s acclaimed production of In Conflict. Culture Project also produced Breaking the Silence, Beating the Drum, a groundbreaking concert at the United Nations to commemorate the abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Most recently, Culture Project presented James X, directed by Gabriel Byrne and the revival of Rinde Eckert's acclaimed And God Created Great Whales. In 2012, Culture Project celebrates its return to the theaters at 45 Bleecker Street. For further information, please visit www.CultureProject.org. 

Performances for Out of Iceland will be Monday and Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8pm, Sunday evenings at 7pm.  Walkerspace is located at 46 Walker Street, between Broadway and Church. Tickets for all seats for all performances are $35 and may be purchased at www.outoficeland.com or by calling 866/811-4111.

For more information visit www.outoficeland.com