THE SAINTLINESS OF MARGERY KEMPE To Open Off Broadway This July

Perry Street Theatricals and Jonathan Demar in association with Frederick M. Zollo and Diane Procter are thrilled to announce that The Saintliness of Margery Kempe by John Wulp, will begin performances on Thursday, July 5, 2018 at New York City's The Duke on 42nd Street (located on 229 West 42nd Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues). The Saintliness of Margery Kempe will hold its opening night on Thursday, July 12.

Based on the incredible life of 14th century English mystic Margery Kempe and inspired by The Book of Margery Kempe, considered by many to be one of the first autobiographies in the English language, The Saintliness of Margery Kempe is a comedic tale about one woman's quest to define life by her own means in a world that was otherwise dominated by men. A uniquely funny, moving and thought-provoking play, The Saintliness of Margery Kempe chronicles the journey of a woman ahead of her time as she aspires to saintliness, while embarking on the travels she took throughout her incredible life.

The production will star Drama League Award-nominee Andrus Nichols, who received critical praise for her performance in Bedlam's productions of Saint Joan and Sense & Sensibility as well as her portrayal of Beatrice in Center Theatre Group's production of Ivo van Hove's Tony and Olivier Award-winning revival of A View From The Bridge, in the title role of Ms. Kempe. She will be joined on stage by Vance Quincy Barton, LaTanya Borsay, Timothy Doyle, Michael Genet, Ginger Grace, Jason O'Connell, Pippa Pearthree and Thomas Sommo under the direction of Austin Pendleton.

The Saintliness of Margery Kempe will feature scenic design by John Wulp, lighting design by Multiple Tony-winner Jennifer Tipton and Matthew Richards, costume design by Barbara Bell, and sound design & original music by Ryan Rumery.

Tickets for The Saintliness of Margery Kempe, ranging in price from $55 to $85, are available for purchase online at www.margerykempe.com.

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Andrus Nichols (Margery Kempe) is currently starring in A Lesson from Aloes at Hartford Stage. New York: Sense & Sensibility (Bedlam; Drama League nomination; Off Broadway Alliance Award winner), Hamlet, Saint Joan (Bedlam; Lucille Lortel nomination, Outstanding Lead Actress; Off Broadway Alliance Award winner), The Seagull, What You Will and Twelfth Night (Bedlam); They Promised Her the Moon, The Libertine. Regional: A Lesson From Aloes (Hartford Stage, Darko Tresnjak, dir); A View From The Bridge (Ivo van Hove, dir.; The Kennedy Center/The Ahmanson/The Goodman); Hamlet, Saint Joan (Bedlam/McCarter/Olney/Central Square; Helen Hayes and Elliot Norton nominations, Outstanding Lead Actress; IRNE Award, Outstanding Visiting Performer); Hamlet (title role), Iphigenia and Other Daughters (We Players/Alcatraz). Film: Aviva (Boaz Yakin, dir.), South Mountain, The Fiction,Wash Song. TV: "Rise" on NBC. Andrus was Co-Founder of the Obie Award winning Off-Broadway company, Bedlam, and is a Founding Member of the new sister companies, The Coop and The Hatch. www.andrus-nichols.com

John Wulp (Playwright & Scenic Design) is an American producer, scenic designer, director, artist, and playwright. Wulp's first play, The Saintliness of Margery Kempe, won a Rockefeller Grant and was produced at the Poets' Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts on February 19, 1957. Wulp won an OBIE Award for his direction of the 1961 stage play Red Eye of Love by playwright Arnold Weinstein. A musical adaptation of the play, with lyrics and libretto by Wulp and Weinstein, and music by Sam Davis, opened at the O'Neill Center in 2000. It premiered in Wulp's hometown island of North Haven, Maine, in August 2013. Then, on September 4, 2014, Red Eye of Love the Musical opened Off-Broadway at the AMAS Musical Theater in New York City. A recording of the show with Kelli O'Hara, Josh Gresetti and Brad Oscar was named by The London Theatre Guide as one of the best of the year. Wulp won a Tony Award for Best Revival for his production of Dracula in 1978, starring Frank Langella, with set designs by Edward Gorey, which opened at the Martin Beck Theatre on October 20, 1977. The next year, he co- produced and designed Crucifer of Blood. For his designs, he received a Tony Award nomination, a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Circle Critics Award. When the play was performed at the Ahmanson Theater, he received a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award. The show also played at the Royal Haymarket Theatre in London.

Austin Pendleton (Director) is an actor, director, and playwright. Among his New York directing credits are productions at Classic Stage Company, including: Hamlet, starring Peter Sarsgaard; Ivanov, starring Ethan Hawke; Three Sisters, starring Maggie Gylenhall, Jessica Hecht and Juliet Rylance; and Uncle Vanya, starring Denis O'Hare. Other credits include the Broadway production of The Little Foxes starring Elizabeth Taylor and Maureen Stapleton, and John Gabriel Borkman starring E.G. Marshall and Irene Worth. Others include: Between Riverside and Crazy (by Stephen Adly Giurgis, which went on to win the Pultizer Prize for Drama in 2015), and The Traveling Lady by Horton Foote at the Cherry Lane Theatre. He has also directed extensively at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, where he is a member of the Ensemble. He has acted On, Off-, and Off-Off-Broadway, playing roles ranging from King Lear to Hamlet, and Motel the Tailor in the original cast of Fiddler on the Roof.

PERRY STREET THEATRICALS (David Elliott, Martin Platt and Lorna Isaac) is a multi-award-winningProducing and General Management Company in NewYork City, founded in 2003. Producing credits include: Dames At Sea; Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike (Tony Winner, Best Play); Lend Me A Tenor, The Musical; Georgie, My Adventures With George Rose (Drama Desk Winner); Bedlam's HAMLET and SAINT JOAN; among others. General Management includes: Little Rock (Sheen Center, Loreto); Georgie, My Adventures With George Rose 2017 tour; The Aquila Theatre Company's tours of Hamlet, Sense And Sensibility, and Our Trojan War (Aquila Theatre Company, U.S. Tour); Bedlam's Sense & Sensibility; and Bedlam's Hamlet and Saint Joan, Me the People (The Triad); the Golden Girls Show! (DR2); Missed Connections (New Ohio); My Life is a Musical (Bay Street); White People (Atlantic).

Jonathan Demar is a producer and actor who has been involved with various productions both on and off-Broadway. Producing credits include Off Broadway's Church & State, the West End revival of Gypsy (with Seaview Productions) starring Imelda Stauton, Broadway's Love Letters with Mia Farrow and Brian Dennehy; and The Velocity of Autumn starring Estelle Parsons and Stephen Spinella. He also served as Executive Producer for the BlogTalk Radio Internet program BlazinRy Radio, where he was responsible for attracting high profile guests including Kellie Pickler, Tammy Blanchard, and Biz Markie. Jonathan is a proud graduate of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. His company Dynamic Elevations helps develop and produce shows, taking theater to new heights. https://www.facebook.com/DynamicElevations/

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