Philip Ridley’s TENDER NAPALM Begins 8/23 at 59E59 Theaters

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) welcomes The Shop with the US premiere of TENDER NAPALM, written by Philip Ridley and directed by Paul Takacs. TENDER NAPALM begins performances on Thursday, August 23 for a limited engagement through Sunday, September 9.  Press opening is Wednesday, August 29 at 7:30 PM.  The performance schedule is Tuesday – Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday and Saturday at 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $18 ($12.60 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.

August heats up at 59E59 Theaters with the scorching return of playwright and provocateur Philip Ridley (Vincent River) to 59E59 Theaters. Ridley's TENDER NAPALM is an "explosive" (The Guardian) play about the ever-looming terror and uncertainty of love. Though a swirling world of ancient mythology, comic book superheroes, sci-fi adventurers and fairy tales, a young couple retraces the history of their love back to its beginnings. Can it survive?

Winner of the London Fringe Best Play Award, the play premiered in the UK at the Southwark Playhouse in April 2011.

The cast for the US premiere features Blake Ellis (The Lieutenant of Inishmore at Berkeley Rep) and Amelia Workman (Cordelia in Young Jean Lee's Lear).

The design team includes Steven C. Kemp (scenic design); Dante Olivia Smith (lighting design); and Toby Jaguar Algya (sound design). The movement director is Yasmine Lee. The stage manager is Michele Ebel.

Philip Ridley (playwright) was born in the East End of London where he still lives and works. He studied painting at Saint Martin's School of Art and his work has been exhibited widely throughout Europe and Japan. He has written nine stage plays: The Pitchfork Disney (Bush Theatre); the multi-award-winning The Fastest Clock in the Universe, Ghost from a Perfect Place, Vincent River (all of which premiered at The Hampstead Theatre); the highly controversial Mercury Fur (Paines Plough); Leaves of Glass, Piranha Heights (both premiered at the Soho Theatre); and most recently the critically acclaimed Shivered (Southwark Playhouse). His plays for young people include Karamazoo, Fairytaleheart, Moonfleece, Sparkleshark and Brokenville. He has also written many books for children, including Scribbleboy (short-listed for the Carnegie Medal), Kasper in the Glitter (nominated for the Whitbread Prize), Mighty Fizz Chilla  (short-listed for the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award), ZinderZunder, Vinegar Street, Zip's Apollo and the bestseller Krindlekrax (winner of both the Smarties Prize and WH Smith's Mind-Boggling Books Award), the stage play of which (adapted by Ridley) premiered at the Birmingham Rep Theatre in the summer of 2002.  He has also directed three feature films from his own screenplays: The Reflecting Skin, winner of 11 international awards, including the prestigious George Sadoul Prize; The Passion of Darkly Noon, winner of the Best Director Prize at the Porto Film Festival; and Heartless, winner of The Silver Meliers Award for Best Fantasy Film, starring Jim Sturgess and Noel Clarke. Philip has won both the Evening Standard's Most Promising Newcomer to British Film and Most Promising Playwright Awards, the only person ever to receive both prizes.

Paul Takacs (director) is the founding Artistic Director of The Shop. His work has been seen at NYU; The Samuel French New Play Festival; The Red Room, NYC; The Cell Theatre, NYC; The New School for Drama, NYC; Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC; The Theatre Alliance, DC; Spooky Action Theatre, DC; Washington Shakespeare Company, DC; and Theatre of the First Amendment, VA. He has worked on new plays with John Strand, Heather Lynn MacDonald, and Judith Goudsmit to name but a few. He holds a BA in Drama from St. Mary's College of Maryland and an MFA in Directing from the New School for Drama. He has taught at St. Mary's College of Maryland and has served as a teaching artist for Shakespeare Theatre Company as well as the Folger Shakespeare Library and is currently on faculty at the Stella Adler Studio in New York.

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