STUDIO 42 Presents American Premiere Of GAUGLEPRIXTOWN 3/22

STUDIO 42, one of the theatre community's more inventive organizations, will present the American Premiere of British wunderkind/playwright Andrew Muir's sensational "GAUGLEPRIXTOWN" on SUNDAY, MARCH 22nd at The Kirk Theatre at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street).

Preview performances begin Thursday, March 19th.
This event will run for 21 performances only through April 4th.
Directed by David F. Chapman, the British import will feature Devon Berkshire, Tony Roach and Kurt Uy. The play is based on one of the most shocking crimes in the history of Great Britain;
the 1993 kidnapping and subsequent murder of James Bulger,
an innocent 4-year-old who was targeted for random death by two ten-year-old boys.
The nature of the crime was traumatizing. But it was the incessant media coverage that appalled Europe, Canada, North and South America. For weeks the television news delivered the surveillance tape of the two children running towards the exit doors of a shopping mall in Bootle, England with their toddler prey.

Over and over and over again, the British networks repeated the news clip of the impossibly senseless act.

At that time, Andrew Muir was graduating from Drama School in London where no one was allowed to hide from the furor of the case or escape the CC-TV images of the chilling trio as they headed for escape.

After serving 96 months, the murderers were released from Juvenile Detention.

Years later, still reeling from the case, Andrew Muir wrote a play about their imagined first meeting as adults; an act strictly forbidden by the British Justice System. He added a girl.

In 2005, STUDIO 42 Artistic Director, Bradford Louryk, was in Edinburgh performing "CHRISTINE JORGENSEN REVEALS".  He had one night off and decided to go to a Pub.
He was talked into attending a performance of "GAUGLEPRIXTOWN" instead.

It blew his mind.
He brought it back to New York with him.

It opens March 22nd.
Fasten your seat belts.

FROM THE EDINBURGH GUIDE

"The first thing that needs to be said is that
this is REAL theatre.
It is subtle, quietly gripping and hypnotically convincing.
If you love theatre and deeply imagined heartfelt writing,
you will love this play.
It is touching, shocking and wonderful".
-Ritchie Smith

Andrew studied drama at Mountview Theatre School in London where he graduated with a three-year Acting Diploma.  He has worked extensively as an actor in London and the regions in work including:  Six Degrees of Separation, Royal Court and West End; King Lear, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester; Richard III, Pleasance Theatre, London. He has toured both the UK and Europe in various productions  and was also involved in a British Council funded tour of South America.  As a writer Andrew has had plays produced throughout the UK. His first, Anniversary Sweet was produced at the Finborough Theatre in London where he was acclaimed as a "writer to watch" by the Independent Newspaper. His next play, Push, was given ‘Critic's Choice' and was subsequently offered a six-week extension at the Shaftesbury Theatre.
Andrew has written many short plays for various companies including Paines Plough,
Shared Experience, Hampstead Theatre and Menagerie Theatre Company and is currently under commission with Sue Scott Davison Productions for a new play that will be produced in Edinburgh 2009. His short film, ‘Family Man', was produced by JUJU Films and officially selected for the Tarragona Film Festival, Spain. Andrew is a lecturer in Performing Arts at the Bournemouth and Poole College of Further Education. He is Dramaturg for Deafinitely Theatre Company, London and workshop facilitator for the Old Vic New Voices Programme.

ANDREW MUIR'S REMARKS ON THE MURDER OF JAMES BULGER
"The news coverage of this case is heavily documented throughout internet archives. The
image of CCTV with the two boys leading James Bulger away to his death will haunt me
until the day I die. It was one of the first times that we really saw anything being played back to us using this new (early 90's) way of watching our world - cameras everywhere,
meant that we were able to watch as murderers began their journey. In this case, two young boys
(Robert Thompson and John Venables) for reasons that still remain sketchy decided to
snatch a two year old boy. I was fascinated by this case. After researching for about two months I was ready to create my play. I didn't want to write about the case; I was interested in what these two boys would turn into. Would prison change them? Do they remain as monsters? Are they able to survive without each other? I wanted to write a play that involved a young girl instead of a young boy. I wanted to explore sexuality more at that age. What these boys felt towards this little girl. Were they suddenly the powerful men that had only ever dreamt of in their made up world of Gaugleprixtown?"

THE THEATRE
The Kirk Theatre
410 West 42nd Street - (between 9th & 10th Avenues)

THE PLAYING SCHEDUULE
Wednesdays through Saturdays ay 8:00pm
Sundays at 3:00pm

TICKETS
$18

RESERVATIONS
www.TICKETCENTRAL.com
212-279-4200

All photography is by Aaron Epstein
THIS PRODUCTION IS DEDICATED TO OLIVER MUIR.

To post a comment, you must register and login.