Soho Rep - the nine-time OBIE Award-winning, Off-Broadway theatre company - which sold out its initial run and its first extension, announces a second extension of its critically acclaimed production of Sarah Kane's landmark play BLASTED which will now play an unprecedented additional six weeks - through December 21st, according to Soho Rep's Artistic Director Sarah Benson. SIXTY MILES TO SILVERLAKE, a co-production with Page 73 Productions (1001; ELLIOT, A SOLDIER'S FUGUE) and Soho Rep has been rescheduled to open in January immediately following the extended production of BLASTED.
BLASTED, which began previews on October 2nd and opened officially on October 9th to enthusiastic reviews and sold-out houses, was initially scheduled to close on October 26th.
Ben Brantley of The New York Times exclaimed, "Now 'Blasted' has finally arrived in New York in a first-rate production…at
Soho Rep on Walker Street, filling a significant gap in the history of contemporary theater here." Michael Kuchwara of the Associated Press stated "It's unnerving in the extreme, which makes the evening's fleeting moments of human connection all that more potent." Michael Sommers of The Star Ledger proclaimed "
Soho Rep's show [BLASTED] is a must-ticket for those interested in contemporary drama." David Cote of Time Out New York stated, "
Soho Rep's
Sarah Benson has directed the New York premiere [of BLASTED]; and yes, it was worth the wait…Benson's fearless actors all give intensely raw yet technically adept performances…BLASTED's time has come…simply must be seen" The New Yorker exclaimed, "The forceful and always daring
Soho Rep mounts the long-awaited New York premiere of the late Sarah Kane's groundbreaking and excruciating drama…director,
Sarah Benson, has assembled a top-notch team of designers and a cast of equally brilliant actors, and together they bring this ambitious work to thrilling life with admirable precision. The results are no less than simultaneously devastating and sublime."
A middle-aged journalist, Ian, and young woman, Cate, enter a hotel room. As private and public violation collide, the world fragments around them. Acknowledged as the most provocative and influential British playwright of her generation, in her landmark play BLASTED, Sarah Kane, with startling imagery and bleak humor, forges a potent theatrical vision of destruction, collapse, and ultimately, redemption and love.
"I am delighted that New York audiences will finally get to see this play," noted Ms. Benson.
Directed by
Soho Rep Artistic Director
Sarah Benson, Ms. Benson's debut as director for
Soho Rep, the cast of BLASTED features OBIE Award-winner
Marin Ireland as Cate, OBIE Award-winner
Reed Birney as Ian and
Louis Cancelmi as Soldier. Ms. Benson has directed such projects as QUIVER &TWITCH at New York Stage &Film and THE LOTTERY at Here Arts Center. Ms. Ireland was last seen Off-Broadway in last season's BEEBO BRINKER CHRONICLES. Mr. Birney was recently seen in The Public Theatre's STUFF HAPPENS, and has a recurring role on TV's smash hit "Gossip Girl." Mr. Cancelmi was seen at
Soho Rep in the title role of PHILOKTETES, last season.
Ms. Benson, Ms. Ireland, Mr. Birney and Mr. Cancelmi have all received praise for their work in BLASTED. The Associated Press states, "The theatricality is undeniable, thanks to
Sarah Benson's astute, tension-savvy direction."
Ben Brantley of The New York Times states of the entire cast, "The cast is remarkable, both for its unflinching commitment to doing what the script demands…and for finding the dim but distinct glimmer of compassion in the play's characters." Ms. Ireland's performance is called "extraordinarily nuanced" by Variety. The Village Voice states, "
Reed Birney carefully shapes Ian's burnt-out sourness and concedes an emasculation that makes his violent outbursts all the more disorienting." And Newsday calls Mr. Cancelmi's performance "riveting."
Design team for BLASTED is Louisa Thompson (set design);
Tyler Micoleau (lighting design);
Theresa Squire (costume design); and Matt Tierney (sound design). Ms. Thompson won an OBIE Award for her set design of
Soho Rep's [sic]. Mr. Micoleau is the recipient of both an OBIE and a
Lucille Lortel Award for his work on
Tracy Letts' BUG. Ms. Squire was costume designer for both THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE and HIGH FIDELITY on Broadway. Mr. Tierney is an OBIE Award-winner for his work on Mac Wellman's JENNIE RICHEE.
The first play in the short life and career of the late Ms. Kane, BLASTED - which upon its London debut in 1995 sparked an extraordinary public controversy - was embraced by Ms. Kane's British contemporaries
Harold Pinter,
Caryl Churchill and Martin Crimp, and has subsequently been widely produced worldwide. Ms. Kane's other plays include PHAEDRA'S LOVE, CLEANSED, CRAVE and 4.48 PSYCHOSIS.
Following the extended run of BLASTED Page 73 Productions and
Soho Rep will co-produce SIXTY MILES TO SILVER LAKE. Writer Dan LeFranc and Obie Winning director
Anne Kaufman team up to explore the tenuous relationship between sons and fathers and the effect of the mundane on the complex journey to adulthood. The design team for SIXTY MILES TO SILVERLAKE is Dane Laffrey (Set &Costume design);
Tyler Micoleau (Lighting design); and Leah Gelpe (Video &Sound design).
Now in its 33rd year,
Soho Rep's 2008-09 season is the second under the leadership of Artistic Director,
Sarah Benson, and the first for new Executive Director, Tania Camargo. This is the second season the company will operate as an Off-Broadway company after decades of presenting work in the off-off-Broadway arena. One of the company's most popular and innovative programming features from last year -- 99-cent tickets for all Sunday performances of main stage productions throughout the year -- returns this season, as well.
Soho Rep is dedicated to cultivating and producing visionary, uncompromising, and exuberant new plays. They perform to one of the youngest adult audiences in New York City, with over three-quarters of its audience aged 18-40.
Over the last nine seasons,
Soho Rep productions have garnered nine OBIE Awards -- most recently NO DICE by Nature Theater of Oklahoma, and playwright
Adam Bock and director Anne Kauffman for THE THUGS -- four Drama Desk nominations for their critically acclaimed production of FRANKENSTEIN, the Oppenheimer Award for EVERYTHING WILL BE DIFFERENT, and two Kesselring Awards for Melissa James Gibson and
Mark Schultz. In recent years,
Soho Rep has presented plays by established and emerging theatre artists such as Richard Maxwell, Mac Wellman, Young Jean Lee and The Flying Machine.
Scheduled October 2 now through December 21, performances of BLASTED run Tuesdays - Sundays at 7:30pm (with no performance Thursday, November 27) at
Soho Rep (46 Walker Street - between Broadway &Church, 2 blocks south of Canal Street). General admission tickets are $30 - $55, with premium seating available. All tickets can be reserved by calling TheaterMania at 212-352-3101 or online at www.sohorep.org.
For additional information about BLASTED or
Soho Rep, call 212-941-8632 or visit
www.sohorep.org
Comments
To post a comment, you must
register and
login.
