Rebecca Benson, Cristian Ortega & More to Star in LET THE RIGHT ONE IN at St. Ann's Warehouse

St. Ann's Warehouse has announced the cast of the upcoming American Premiere of the National Theatre of Scotland's Let the Right One In, adapted by Jack Thorne from John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel and screenplay, and helmed by Director John Tiffany and Associate Director/Movement Steven Hoggett. Rebecca Benson will return to the role of the vampire girl next door, which she originated in Dundee and then played at the Royal Court and on the West End to critical acclaim. Cristian Ortega will play opposite her as Oskar, the bullied boy Eli befriends.

St. Ann's Warehouse presents Let the Right One In January 20 - February 15, 2015. Performances will take place Jan 20-24, 27-31, Feb 3-7 and 10-14 at 8pm; Jan 24 & 31, and Feb 7 & 14 at 3pm; Jan 25 and Feb 1, 8 & 15 at 2pm and 7pm. As of today, tickets, starting at $35, are available to the public at www.stannswarehouse.org or 718.254.8779. Let the Right One In runs 2:15 and is recommended for adults and fearless teens aged 13+. Press performances will be announced soon.

Let the Right One In is both a brutal and tender vampire myth, as told through the turbulence of a coming-of-age romance. Oskar, a lonely boy from a broken home, is bullied at school and longing for friendship. Eli, the young girl who moves in next door, doesn't attend school and rarely leaves home.When a series of mysterious killings plagues the neighborhood, these two young misfits, sensing in each other a kindred spirit, forge a deep connection. But the shocking truth about one of them takes their young friendship-and love-beyond all imaginable limits.

Reviewing the production on the West End, Ben Brantley of The New York Times described Benson's portrayal of Eli as "abjectly feral" and "uncanny," and Lyn Gardner of The Guardian praised the "savage fragility" with which Benson played the role. Cristian Ortega will take on the part of Oskar, having been with the production in the role of Micke since the world premiere.

The cast, many of whom have performed in the production previously, will also include Cliff Burnett as Hakan, Susan Vidler as Oskar's Mum, Gary Mackay as Kurt/Jocke/Nils/Dad/Stefan, Gavin Kean as Halmberg/Mr Avila, Graeme Dalling as Jonny/Torkel/Jimmy, Angus Miller as Janne and Andrew Fraser as Micke.

This American Premiere engagement matches the fantastical and raw production with St. Ann's vast cavern of a space at the perfect time of year. The simultaneously terrifying and enchanted vampire love story-with its chilling stage pictures, thrilling special effects, eerie wooded snowscape setting, arresting music and movement-will heat up St. Ann's Warehouse in the dead of New York winter. In a New York Times reviewthis summer, Ben Brantley called Let the Right One In "the most gut-twisting presentation of the middle teens as a supernatural horror story since Brian De Palma's movie cameras invaded the girls' locker room in Carrie," and wrote that the production "turns your emotions inside out in a way you probably haven't experienced since you were a teenager."

The American Premiere of Let the Right One In marks the return of the National Theatre of Scotland, Tiffany and Hoggett to St. Ann's Warehouse, where their seminal, award-winning production of Black Watch had its American Premiere and multiple sold-out return engagements, and where Bryony Lavery's Beautiful Burnout, a Frantic Assembly/National Theatre of Scotland co-production directed and choreographed by Hoggett and Scott Graham, also had its American Premiere. After Black Watch, Tiffany and Hoggett went on to create together the Broadway hits The Glass Menagerie and Once (with writer and frequent St. Ann's artist, Enda Walsh), as well as several successful Broadway and opera productions individually.

John Tiffany, a Tony Award-winner, and Steven Hoggett, a Tony Award-nominee, bring their trademark physicality and lyricism to this new adaptation by thetwo-time BAFTA Award-winning writer Jack Thorne. The production features original music by BAFTA Award-winning Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds, set design by Tony Award-winner Christine Jones, lighting design by Chahine Yavroyan, sound design by Olivier Award-winner Gareth Fry and special effects design by Jeremy Chernick.

In The Guardian, Lyn Gardner called Let the Right One In "exquisitely beautiful" and wrote, "the ambiguities of the story, its comic potential and lingering tragedies, are not shirked, and Tiffany's production-textured with Ólafur Arnalds' score and Steven Hoggett's movement-is so painfully tender that, as you watch the show, it feels as if layers of your skin are gradually being flayed from your body."

Paul Taylor wrote in The Independent, "The genre of vampire romance is not one that I have been inclined to take seriously, but Let the Right One In has a seriousness and emotional intensity that would disarm even the most militant skeptic...[Tiffany and Hoggett] have produced a piece that will chill you to the marrow and break your heart." In Time Out London, Andrzej Lukowski called the production "astonishing" and said, "Tiffany's production is at once beautifully intimate and bedazzlingly epic....a paean to the confusion and pain and wonder of being a teen."

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