POOL (NO WATER) Opens Today at 9th Space

One Year Lease Theater Company presents the New York premiere of pool (no water) by controversial English playwright Mark Ravenhill (Shopping and F*cking) for a limited Off-Broadway run from tonight, May 9 through May 26 at 9th Space (150 First Avenue, at 9th Street).  Tickets for pool (no water) are $25 and can be arranged online at 9thspace.org or by calling 212.352.3101.  Running time: 60 minutes, no intermission. 

Commissioned and co-directed in 2006 by Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett (choreographer of Broadway’s Once, Peter and the Starcather and American Idiot) for their British theater company Frantic Assembly, pool (no water) is a visceral and shocking play about the fragility of friendship and the jealousy and resentment inspired by success. 

A famous artist invites old friends to her luxurious new home for a long awaited reunion.  But the celebration comes to an abrupt end when the host suffers a horrific accident.  An almost unthinkable plan starts to take shape: could her suffering be the group’s next work of art? 

Published 10 years after his critically-acclaimed Shopping and F*cking, this piece by Mark Ravenhill is an unflinching look at the vulnerability of friendship, the power of resentment, and a deep-seated yearning to create something truly memorable. 

Ianthe Demos directs a cast that includes Estelle Bajou, Christopher Baker (James Cameron’s Sanctum), Christina Bennett Lind (Bianca Montgomery on ABC’s “All My Children”), Nick Flint and Richard Saudek.   The production features choreography by Natalie Lomont, music by Estelle Bajou, movement by Christopher Baker, set design by James Hunting, lighting design by Mike Riggs, costume design by Kay Lee and multi-media design by Scott J. Fetterman.

ABOUT Mark Ravenhill:

Mark Ravenhill is an internationally acclaimed playwright whose first full-length play, Shopping and f-ing, opened at The Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in 1996. His more recent works include Mother Clap's Molly House (National Theatre, 2001); Product (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 2005); The Cut(Donmar Warehouse, London, 2006); Citizenship (National Theatre, 2006); pool (no water) (Lyric Hammersmith, 2006); Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat (Edinburgh Festival, 2007); Over There (Royal Court / Schaubühne, Berlin, 2009); A Life in Three Acts co-written and performed with Bette Bourne (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh / Konninklijke Schouwburg, The Hague / Soho Theatre, London, 2009 and St Ann's Warehouse, New York, 2010); Nationadapt. from the Terry Pratchett novel (National Theatre, 2009); Ten Plagues, a liberetto for a new opera by Conor Mitchell (Royal Court, 2010 / Traverse Theatre 2011); Ghost Story (Playhouse: Live, Sky Arts, Riverside Studios 2010); The Coronation of Poppea a liberetto co-written with Alex Silverman (OperaUpClose, Kings Head Theatre, 2011). Mark is currently under commission to the RSC and Hampstead Theatre and is writing a new libretto for the Norwegian National Opera. His plays are performed all over the world.

One Year Lease Theater Company (OYL) is an ensemble company featuring members from Greece, Australia, New Zealand and the United States committed to the creation of new work, the training of young theater artists, the development of new scripts inspired by ancient stories, and the advancement of international collaboration in the theater. 

Since 2009 the ensemble has created productions of Eugene Ionesco's The Bald Soprano, Clay McLeod Chapman’s Teaser Cow, Sladjana Vujovic’s The Tender Mercies, Daniel Keene’s The Killing Room, and Danny Mitarotondo’s Manmade Mistakes in New York City. 

Coming up next:
One Year Lease Theater Company presents Skin Tight by Gary Henderson (New Zealand playwright) at 59East59 from November 8, 2012–December 1, 2012.

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