Scotland Week Continues at 59E59 Theaters With FEDERER VERSUS MURRAY

59E59 Theaters welcomes Glasgow-based Communicado Theatre Company to the Scotland Week celebrations with the US premiere of FEDERER VERSUS MURRAY, written and directed by Gerda Stevenson. 

 

FEDERER VERSUS MURRAY begins performances on Wednesday, April 4 for a limited engagement through Sunday, April 22.  Press opening is Tuesday, April 10 at 7:30 PM.  The performance schedule is Tuesday – Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday at 8:30 PM; Saturday at 2:30 PM & 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM & 7:30 PM. Please note: the performances on Saturday, April 7 are at 4 PM and 7:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org. 
 
Comedy and tragedy collide in FEDERER VERSUS MURRAY, a “taut and punchy” (The Independent) new play about bereavement and war on three levels: man versus wife, nation against nation, and Scotland's golden boy versus the Swiss master at Wimbledon. From a claustrophobic flat in Scotland to the Swiss Alps via Afghanistan we follow Flo and Jimmy on a painful, and at times farcical journey, complete with war-paint and saxophones.
 
FEDERER VERSUS MURRAY was short listed for the London Fringe Theatre Writing Award in 2010 when it premiered at the Oran Mor in Glasgow. It subsequently went on to the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it played the Assembly Hall.
 
The cast features Gerda Stevenson as Flo and Dave Anderson as Jimmy. Young Scottish jazz sensation Ben Bryden (Le Poisson Rouge, The Iridium) plays saxophone live onstage.  

 
Gerda Stevenson (writer/director/actor) trained at RADA and has worked for over 30 years on stage, television, radio and film throughout Britain and abroad. Federer Versus Murray was first produced at Oran Mor, Glasgow, and was short listed for the London Festival Fringe Theatre Writing Award, 2010. Gerda writes regularly for radio – most recently The Apple Tree (BBC Radio 4), starring Juliet Stevenson. She has dramatized many major Scottish novels for BBC Radio 4’s Classic Serial, including Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s Sunset Song and Sir Walter Scott’s epic The Heart of Midlothian (in which she played the heroine Jeanie Deans). Gerda can be heard regularly on the ‘wireless’ in BBC Radio 4’s hugely popular Paul Temple Series, playing the role of Steve – the hero’s feisty wife. She has been nominated twice for the Critic’s Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) for her performances as Nancy in Frozen and The Lasses, O. Film and TV appearances include Blue Black Permanent (BAFTA Best Film Actress Award), Braveheart, The Boyhood of John Muir (PBS, USA), Midsomer Murders, Heartbeat, Taggart and The Bill. Gerda has directed for opera, film, radio and theatre, including plays by Rona Munro, Peter Arnott, and Jackie Kay. Her poetry and prose have been published widely in literary magazines and anthologies.