ECHOES U.S. Premiere to Open 2016 Brits Off Broadway Festival at 59E59 Theaters

59E59 Theaters will launch the 2016 Brits Off Broadway festival with ECHOES, written by Henry Naylor, and directed by Mr. Naylor and Emma Buttler. Produced by Redbeard Theatre Ltd and Gilded Balloon Productions, ECHOES begins performances on Tuesday, April 19 for a limited engagement through Sunday, May 1. Press opening is Sunday, April 24 at 3:15 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:15 PM; Friday at 8:15 PM; Saturday at 2:15 PM & 8:15 PM; and Sunday at 3:15 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or visit www.59e59.org.

ECHOES tells the parallel stories of two women born 175 years apart. A Victorian pioneer woman wants to build an Empire. A present-day Islamist schoolgirl wants to build a Caliphate. Both travel east, to impose their ideals upon unwilling peoples...and both see their ideals drowned in seas of blood. Winner of the prestigious Mervyn Sutter Spirit of the Fringe Award at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe (where it was called a "hugely impressive play" by The Guardian and a "must see" by The Times, London), ECHOES transferred off-West End to the Arcola Theatre.

ECHOES features Filipa Braganca (Robin Hood for The Tramshed) and Felicity Houlbrooke (The King's Speech at Chichester Festival Theatre).

For over 20 years, Henry Naylor (playwright/co-director) has been one of Britain's leading satirists, winning many of the country's top TV awards as both a writer and a director. Career highlights include: Lead Writer on ITV's celebrated puppet show Spitting Image; hosted nine series of one of Europe's most popular radio comedies, Parsons & Naylor's Pull-Out Sections; and he broke new ground in animation by creating, directing and exec-producing the news-based, topical CGI comedy Headcases for ITV1 (which won the RTS Award for Innovation). Over the past few years, his career changed course, and he began writing and directing hard-hitting drama. In 2014, he wrote and directed The Collector, which won a Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Fringe and subsequently transferred to the Arcola Theatre. His follow-up, ECHOES, won the Mervyn Sutter Spirit of the Fringe Award 2015, and not only transferred to the Arcola, but also has been invited to appear at the Brighton, Adelaide and Prague Festivals.

Emma Butler (co-director) is Artistic Director of Theatre Sotto Voce whose most recent productions include the world première of The Unquiet Grave of Garcia Lorca by Nicholas de Jong, The Flood with So & So Arts Club and Romeo and Juliet. Her recent work as a director includes The Bench and Powerpoints, Theatre 503; Romeo and Juliet, Sotto Voce at Holy Trinity Church Sloane Square; Murder in Whitechapel, The Tristan Bates; Detrimental for Vertical Line at Greenwich Theatre and Dying City, The Cockpit. Emma's work an Associate includes The Separation, Theatre 503; Dido and Aeneas, The Sage Gateshead; and The Flood, So & So Arts Club. Work as an Assistant Director includes Absent Friends, London Classic Theatre UK tour; The King James Bible, Shakespeare's Globe; The Marriage if Figaro, The Sage Gateshead; and Finding Butterfly and The Secret Consul with Opera Machine. Emma was also a 'young director' on The Globe to Globe Festival for Shakespeare's Globe.

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