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THE BOAT FACTORY Set for Brits Off Broadway

By: May. 15, 2013
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59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) is thrilled to announce the US premiere of THE BOAT FACTORY, written by Dan Gordon and directed by Philip Crawford, coming to Brits Off Broadway direct from the Grand Opera House, Belfast. Produced by Happenstance Theatre Company, THE BOAT FACTORY begins previews on Tuesday, June 4 for a limited engagement through Sunday, June 30. Opening Night is Sunday, June 9 at 7:15 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:15 PM; Friday at 8:15 PM; Saturday at 2:15 PM & 8:15 PM; Sunday at 3:15 PM & 7:15 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). The single ticket price is $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members). Tickets are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.59e59.org. For more information, visit www.britsoffbroadway.com.

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Belfast 1947. A 16 year-old boy begins an apprenticeship at Harland & Wolff's Titanic Shipyard. 1700 ships built, 67 different trades, 300 acres of land, and 35,000 men employed at its height, the Titanic Shipyard was the biggest and best in the world. If you can dream it, they can build it!

A love-letter to the heady days of post-war Belfast, THE BOAT FACTORY gives eloquent voice to ordinary people living lives of racy, bracing power. Actors Dan Gordon and Michael Condron conjure up a host of colorful characters from the glory days of Belfast's shipbuilding era to construct a poignant, funny, and moving picture of boat-building, male friendship, hardship, humor, and heroism.

Called a "remarkable piece of theatre which pays tribute to the workforce which wove Harland and Wolff's shipyard into the fabric of Belfast life" by the Edinburgh Guide, THE BOAT FACTORY makes its London premiere at Islington's King's Head Theatre immediately following Brits Off Broadway.

This production of THE BOAT FACTORY is made possible thanks to the generous support of Ireland.com, the Ulster Scots Agency, Edwards & Co Solicitors, and the Northern Ireland Bureau North America.

Dan Gordon (playwright/performer) is one of Northern Ireland's most popular and prolific actors and has enjoyed a long and successful career in theatre and television over three decades. A particular stage highlight was his award-winning performance in the one-man show A Night in November by Marie Jones, which he toured extensively throughout the UK and Ireland, and to New York. He also has many directing credits, including a production of Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme by Frank McGuinness, which he directed in a prison with a cast of young offenders. It was the subject of an acclaimed four part documentary series for the BBC. He has made many other documentaries on subjects ranging from marching bands to Irish author Brian Moore to the renovation of Belfast's famous Crown Bar. He is heavily involved in arts in education and recently won a major UK award for his Pat and Plain series of plays for schools. Almost 10,000 children throughout Northern Ireland have been involved in productions of these plays to date. He wrote The Boat Factory to celebrate the history and heritage of the men who worked in Belfast's famous shipyard, including his father. The play has toured widely in the UK and Ireland to great acclaim.

Michael Condron (performer) performs regularly at Belfast's leading producing theatre, the Lyric, where his credits include: Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, John Bull's Other Island by George Bernard Shaw, A Very Weird Manor and Xmas Eve Can Kill You by Marie Jones and The Miser by Molière, adapted by David Johnston. He has also worked with many other venues and touring companies in the UK and Ireland, including: Mirandolina (Manchester Royal Exchange); Mojo-Mickybo (Lyric Hammersmith); Borderland (7:84 Theatre Company); Da (Art NI); Revenge (Tinderbox); The Interrogation of Ambrose Fogarty (GBL Productions); and Oh What A Lovely War, Threepenny Opera, Blue Remembered Hills, and The Government Inspector (Bruiser Theatre). Michael's television and film credits include: Last Man Hanging (BBC NI); Fairytales (BBC); The Tudors (HBO); and Keith Lemon The Film (Generator Films). He has been an integral part of the development and success of The Boat Factory since its earliest stages of development.

Philip Crawford (director) trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff and is the founder and Artistic Director of Happenstance Theatre Company. He is also the Creative Learning Coordinator at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast where he has directed Our Country's Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker, Oedipus the King by Sophocles and Light Shining in Buckinghamshire by Carol Churchill. Other directing credits include Stephen MacDonald's biography of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, Not About Heroes (Happenstance NI Tour), Francis by Julian Mitchell (UK & Italy), Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel (Blairstown, New Jersey), Someone Who'll Watch Over Me by Frank McGuinness, Brian Friel's Translations, Treasure Island by R.L. Stevenson, Androcles and the Lion by George Bernard Shaw, and Lerner & Loewe's My Fair Lady. Assistant Director credits at the Grand Opera House in Belfast include The Interrogation of Ambrose Fogarty and Women on the Verge of HRT (GBL Productions). Philip also teaches drama with young people and has worked extensively on developing theatre skills with a wide range of community groups.



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