59E59 Theaters Announces the 2017 BRITS OFF BROADWAY Lineup

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer; Brian Beirne, Managing Director) is thrilled to announce the 2017 line-up for Brits Off Broadway, the critically acclaimed annual festival of New British Theater. Now in its 13th Season, Brits Off Broadway kicks off on Tuesday, April 4 and runs through Sunday, July 2. Single ticket prices range from $25 - $70 ($20 - $49 for 59E59 Members). Tickets to Brits Off Broadway go on sale to the general public on February 21, with an exclusive pre-sale for 59E59 Members beginning on February 14. Tickets are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.59e59.org.

Now in its 13th year, Brits Off Broadway continues to be the highlight of the spring theater season, introducing bold new artists and new British theater to adventurous New York audiences.

This years Brits Off Broadway festival opens with the story of a gambling man who places one last bet after discovering he has cancer in A GAMBLER'S GUIDE TO DYING. Henry Naylor returns to this year's Festival with a double bill of two powerful, timely one acts: ECHOES, a story that draws astonishing parallels between the lives of a Jihadi bride and a Victorian pioneer; and ANGEL a stunning true story of a female resistance fighter most feared by ISIS.

FOSSILS whisks us off to Scotland, where a discovery in Loch Ness draws a science researcher to the famous loch in search of her missing father. IPHIGENIA IN SPLOTT is a modern reworking of the enduring Greek legend set in the Splott district of Cardiff, Wales, which arrives at 59E59 Theaters after its a critically acclaimed run at The National.

A lesbian woman must come to terms with her partner's transition in ROTTERDAM. Playwright Matthew Wilkinson returns to 59E59 Theaters with MY EYES WENT DARK, the searing story of a man who exacts his own revenge after losing his family in a plane crash. A broKen Down train forces a couple on a first date to communicate without their WiFi enabled devices in UNDERGROUND.

Anchoring the festival in Theater A are two British comedies from two different centuries highlighting how far the class wars have come in Britain (and also how little they've changed): the US premiere of a rediscovered J.B. Priestley comedic gem THE ROUNDABOUT and Torben Betts' (Alan Ayckbourn's protégé) madcap comedy of manners INVINCIBLE.

Full details of the 2017 Brits Off Broadway lineup:

April 4 - April 23
A GAMBLER'S GUIDE TO DYING written and performed by Gary McNair, directed by Gareth Nicolls
Produced by Show and Tell in association with the Traverse Theatre Company
Tickets: $25 - $35 ($20 - $24.50 for 59E59 Members)

This is the story of one boy's granddad who won a fortune betting on the 1966 soccer World Cup and, when diagnosed with cancer, gambled it all on living to see the year 2000. An intergenerational tale of what we live for and what we leave behind.

April 11 - May 7
ANGEL & ECHOES written and directed by Henry Naylor
With Avital Lvova, Serena Manteghi, and Rachel Smyth
Produced by Redbeard Theatre Ltd with Gilded Balloon Production
Tickets: $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members)

Henry Naylor returns to this year's Brits Off Broadway with a double bill of provocative theater. ANGEL is inspired by the story of a modern legend: a female sniper who struck fear in the hearts of jihadists and held ISIS in check for over a year in war torn Syria. ECHOES, back by popular demand after its sell-out too-short run last year, tells the parallel stories of two women born 175 years apart: a Victorian pioneer woman wants to build an Empire and a present-­day Islamist schoolgirl wants to build a Caliphate. These two staggering stories will continue to haunt long after the curtain goes down.

April 20 - May 28
THE ROUNDABOUT written by J.B. Priestley, directed by Hugh Ross
With Steven Blakeley, Lisa Bowerman, Richenda Carey, Charlie Field, Derek Hutchinson, Annie Jackson, Ed Pinker, Brian Protheroe, Hugh Sachs, and Carol Starks
Produced by Cahoots Theatre Company, The Other Cheek & Park Theatre
Tickets: $25 - $70 ($25 - $49 for 59E59 Members)

Richard Kettlewell is an old Etonian whose business ventures are failing. Over a crowded weekend, his daughter Pamela, whom he hardly knows, returns from Russia, a passionate communist; his ex-wife and Mistress Both turn up; and his butler has a big win at the races. THE ROUNDABOUT is funny, touching, highly perceptive look at England in the 1930s, when it looked, just possibly, as if the social order might be changing. This delightful comedy by one of Britain's most prolific playwrights J.B. Priestley was first seen in 1933, and this production marks its NYC premiere.

April 25 - May 14
FOSSILS created by Bucket Club, directed by Nel Crouch
With Adam Farrell, Luke Murphy, and Helen Vinten
Produced by Bucket Club in association with Farnham Maltings
Tickets: $25 ($20 for 59E59 Members)

Vanessa's life is science. Fact based, evidence led, no nonsense, no monsters. But when a
photograph surfaces showing something in Loch Ness, she must embark on a very personal research project.

May 9 - June 4
IPHIGENIA IN SPLOTT written by Gary Owen, directed by Rachel O'Riordan
With Sophie Melville
Produced by Sherman Theatre
Tickets: $25 ($20 for 59E59 Members)

Effie's life is a mess of drink, drugs, and drama every night, and a hangover worse than death the next day - till one night gives her the chance to be something more. Inspired by the enduring Greek myth, this urgent new play makes its debut in New York following performances at the National Theatre, London.

May 17 - June 10
ROTTERDAM written by Jon Brittain, directed by Donnacadh O'Briain
With Anna Martine Freeman, Alice McCarthy, Ellie Morris, Ed Eales-White
Produced by Hartshorn - Hook Foundation Ltd
Tickets: $25 ($20 for 59E59 Members)

It's New Year in Rotterdam, and Alice has finally plucked up the courage to email her parents and tell them she's gay. But before she can hit send, Fiona reveals that he has always identified as a man and now wants to start living as one named Adrian. Now, as Adrian begins his transition, Alice must face a question she never thought she'd ask...does this mean she's straight?

June 1 - July 2
INVINCIBLE written by Torben Betts, directed by Stephen Darcy, Original Direction by
Christopher Harper
With ElizaBeth Boag, Emily Bowker, Graeme Brookes, and Alastair Whatley
Produced by The Original Theatre Company & Ghost Light Theatre Productions
Tickets: $25 - $70 ($25 - $49 for 59E59 Members)

With the recession biting hard, Emily and Oliver have decided to downsize and shift their middleclass London lifestyle to a small town in the north of England. One night, they open their doors and invite next door neighbors, Dawn and Alan, into their home. Over the course of a disastrous evening of olives, anchovies, Karl Marx, and abstract art; class and culture collide where the consequences are as tragic as they are hilarious.

June 7 - July 2
MY EYES WENT DARK written and directed by Matthew Wilkinson
With Declan Conlon and Thusitha Jayasundera
Produced by 107group in association with Traverse Theatre and Cusack Projects Ltd
Tickets: $25 - $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members)

An electrifying new drama about a Russian architect driven to revenge after losing his family in a plane crash. Matthew Wilkinson returns to Brits Off Broadway (Sun is Shining, 2004 and Red Sea Fish, 2009) with another searing new play, inspired by real events, which was nominated for three Off West End Theatre Awards and enjoyed an acclaimed run last year at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

June 13 - July 2
UNDERGROUND written by Isla van Tricht, directed by Kate Tiernan
With Michael Jinks, Bebe Sanders and one more actor TBA
Produced by Shrapnel Theatre and Hartshorn - Hook Foundation
Tickets: $25 ($20 for 59E59 Members)

Claire and James take the same Tube to work at the same time every morning. Claire and James drink at the same pub with their same friends every night. Claire and James have never met. But all that is about to change. After matching on a dating app, they meet for an awkward first date. On their way home together, the brand new Night Tube breaks down. Then, things start to get weird.

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