CONSTRUCTION OF THE HUMAN HEART Begins Performances at Access Theater Tonight, 9/5

Construction of the Human Heart, a bold and imaginative play by award-winning Australian playwright Ross Mueller, directed by Brendan Naylor, will receive its U.S. premiere at the Access Theater, 380 Broadway, with previews beginning tonight, September 5, at 8pm and opening Friday, September 7, at 8pm. Performances continue through September 16.

Where does one script end and another life begin?
At the heart of the play is The Couple, two playwrights, dealing with unimaginable loss the only way they know how—by building a fortress of words impregnable to grief. But emotions have a way of emerging through cracks in the walls, and gradually the truth slips past their defenses to uncover their very real tragedies.

Nominated for the Melbourne Prize for Literature, the 2007 AWGIE Award for Play of the Year and the New York New Dramatists Award, Construction of the Human Heart is a poignant, funny and devastating look at grief, love, and loss in our times by one of Australia’s most exciting and heralded playwrights.

Ross Mueller is an Australian writer/director. He has represented Australia at the International Residency of The Royal Court Theatre, London, won the Wal Cherry Play of the Year, the New York New Dramatists Playwright exchange, has been shortlisted for an Awgie, and has had many Green Room Nominations. He has had works performed at Melbourne Theatre Company and Griffin and in 2011 his play ZEBRA! premiered with a sold out season at Sydney Theatre Company.

The cast of Construction of the Human Heart is Eve Danzeisen and Matt Huffman.

A graduate of the The Old Globe/University of San Diego MFA program, Eve Danzeisen’s credits include The Body Politic (59E59), Romeo and Hamlet (Abingdon), Sarah at Noon (The Lark), A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Winter’s Tale (The Old Globe). Film credits include The Same Deep Water as You, Meet Peet, and This End Up.

Matt Huffman’s credits include American Stage Theatre Company’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Jericho at New Jersey Repertory Theatre, the title role in Missa Solemnis or The Play About Henry, Hamlet in Hamlet, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet (Studio@620); Hally in Master Harold… and the boys; Bo in Bus Stop (Chautauqua Playhouse); Skinhead and The Doctor in Thomas Bradshaw’s Cleansed (The Brick) and Southern Promises (PS 122). Film credits include: Satan Hates You, Automatons, The Pod.

Director Brendan Naylor’s most recent credits include the Broadway revival of Godspell and the off-Broadway production of Silence (both assisting Christopher Gattelli), Death Valley DQ and The Seven Deadly Jobs. Some other favorite shows include Assassins, The Zoo Story, Man Woman / Hombre Mujer, and assisting on The Chris and Alex Show, Camelot, The Meaning of Life and Other Useless Pieces of Information, The Little Hours and Pal Joey.

Set design for Construction of the Human Heart is by Jan Jericho, with lighting by Daniel B. Chapman, sound by Mark Van Hare, and costumes by Summer Lee Jack.

Jan Jericho (Set Design) has primarily worked as a designer for Film and TV. He was part of the design team of Valkyrie (2008), Inglourious Basterds (2010), Anonymous (2011), The Three Musketeers (2011) and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) as an Art Director, Conceptual Designer and Graphic Artist. He has also production designed a multitude of award wining independent shorts and features in Germany. Currently Mr. Jericho calls New York his home where he does Concept Design for the hit HBO show "Boardwalk Empire." He holds a degree in Stage and Costume Design from The State Academy Art and Design, Stuttgart, Germany. www.JanJericho.com

Daniel B. Chapman (Lighting Design) The Acting Company: Damascus, Of Mice and Men; Summer Theater of New Canaan: Twelfth Night; Opera Southwest: IL Barbiere di Siviglia; Ballet Reparatory Theater of New Mexico: A Midsummer Nights Dream, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Southwest Folktales, Beyond the Classics, Mythical Wonders; Daniel currently works as the Production Manager for The Acting Company. He is originally from New Mexico and a graduate of Carnegie Mellon. www.danielbchapman.com

Summer Lee Jack (Costume Design) is a freelance costume designer living and working in New York City. Her credits include: Romeo and Juliet (Empirical Rogue), The Storm (Blessed Unrest), Bossa Nova (Yale Rep), The Seagull, Arcadia, The Things Are Against Us (Yale School of Drama) Normal, Hollow Roots, The Wedding Reception, Vaska Vaska Glöm (Yale Cabaret), Fracturing, Sympathetic Division (Sweeter Theater Company), The Wild Party (Gallery Players), A Piece of My Heart, Who Will Carry the Word? (Red Fern Theater Company), The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), Nervermore! (The Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey). www.summerleejack.com.

Mark Van Hare (Sound Design) graduated from Vassar College in 2010 with a degree in music composition. He designed the sound for Elizabeth Rex and Much Ado About Nothing at the Stonington Opera House, composed the music for Las Meninas at Asolo Repertory Theatre, and acted as sound supervisor for The Acting Company's spring 2012 tour of Julius Caesar and The Comedy of Errors. He also assisted with the sound designs for The 39 Steps at Hartford Stage, After the Revolution at Playwrights Horizons, and Tigers Be Still at Roundabout Underground. www.markvanhare.com

Construction of the Human Heart plays Wednesday – Sunday at 8pm through September 16 at the Access Theater, 380 Broadway (at White Street, two blocks south of Canal Street), fourth floor. (Take N/R/6/1/9/A/C/E to Canal Street.) Tickets are $15 for previews and $18 post-opening. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.ConstructionoftheHumanHeart.com.

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