Theatre Exile Closes Its 13th Season With SHINING CITY, 4/25

Theatre Exile will close their 13th season with the Philadelphia premiere of Shining City by Conor McPherson, the award-winning playwright of The Weir and The Seafarer, on April 25th. The production is directed by Exile's associate artistic director Matt Pfieffer.

Two men meet as doctor and patient in a small office in Dublin. The patient, John, is being haunted by visions of his wife, for whose accidental death he feels inexplicably responsible. The therapist, Ian, struggles with his own ghosts since leaving first the Church and then his new family. Both men move through their senses of guilt and culpability, looking to find redemption in the most unlikely places. A hauntingly beautiful piece, Shining City shows Conor McPherson to be a modern master storyteller, creating arias that reveal character through unfinished thoughts, silences and raw human emotion.

Cast and Director

Playing the role of Ian, the conflicted therapist, is Theatre Exile regular William Zielinski. Zielinski has been in three Barrymore winning ensembles for The Laramie Project at PTC, The Comedy of Errors at The Lantern, and Glengarry GLen Ross for Exile, and has been nominated for five individual Barrymore awards for both actor and supporting actor. Philadelphia Weekly named him Best Supporting Actor in a play in 2008 for Bug at Exile, and he was a finalist for the F. Otto Haas Award in 2000. Philadelphia veteran Scott Greer makes his Theatre Exile debut as John, the haunted widower. Greer has received four Barrymore Awards for his work across the city, including the 2002 F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Theatre Artist. He earnEd Barrymore nominations last season for both Something Intangible and Candide, and was listed in Philadelphia Weekly's "Best of the Best" issue in February 2010. This marks the third time Greer and Zielinski have performed together.

Exile welcomes Keith Conallen as Laurence; Conallen was nominated for Outstanding Leading Actor in a Play in 2009 for his work in Flashpoint Theatre Company's Jump/Cut. Geneviéve Perrier rejoins Exile as Neasa, after her recent role as Sarah in Theatre Exile's world premiere of Bruce Graham's Any Given Monday. Perrier received the 2008 Barrymore for Leading Actress for her work in Skylight and was nominated that same year for her work in The Lonesome West. She will next be seen in Temple's first repertory summer season in The Three Sisters and Measure for Measure.

Shining City is directed by Exile's associate artistic director, Matt Pfeiffer. Matt recently directed Exile's American Buffalo, Glengarry GLen Ross and Bug, for which he was nominated for Outstanding Direction of a Play in 2008.

Designers

Jorge Cousineau (Rounding Third, The Philly Fan) returns to Exile as set, sound, and properties designer for Shining City. Cousineau is the recipient of five Barrymore Awards, two Independence Fellowships (Philadelphia), and a Lucille Lortel Award for Sound Design (Opus, NYC). Thom Weaver rejoins Exile as lighting designer, having previously designed Exile's American Buffalo with Matt Pfeiffer, earning a Barrymore nomination for his design. In the area his work has been seen at the Arden, Wilma, People's Light, Delaware Theatre Company, InterAct, New Paradise Laboratories, and Lantern. He has recently been named artistic director of Flashpoint Theatre Company. Shining City will be costume designer Alison Roberts's seventh production with Exile; she is in her tenth season at the Arden Theatre Company, and has designed for 1812 Productions, Rowan University, and Jeanne Ruddy Dance.

Playwright

Conor McPherson's plays include The Seafarer (premiered on Broadway in 2007), Poor Beast in the Rain, Port Authority, Dublin Carol (premiered on Broadway in 2002), The Weir (premiered on Broadway in 1999), St Nicholas and This Lime Tree Bower. His plays have been performed at Atlantic Theater Company, Primary Stages, National Theatre, The Royal Court Theatre, Gate Theatre, New Ambassadors Theatre, Duke of York's Theatre, Dublin Theatre Festival and Bush Theatre, across the United States, as well as in Ireland, England, Germany, France, Australia, Poland, Italy, Japan, Argentina and Uruguay. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play in 2006 for Shining City, which premiered on Broadway in 2006; nominated for the 2002 South Bank Show Award for Best Play for Port Authority; received the 1999 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Play, the Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright, the Critics Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright and was a finalist for the Lloyds Bank Playwright of the Year Award for The Weir; and was the joint winner of 1997 George Devine Award and the winner of the Meyer Whitworth Award for Saint Nicholas. Mr. McPherson's screenplays include Our Lady of the Forest for Channel 4, Brothers for Film Four, The Actors for Film Four/Miramax, Saltwater for Treasure Films/BBC (premiered at the Berlin Festival in 2000 and received The International Confederation of Art Cinemas Prize), Endgame for RTE/Channel 4, I Went Down for BBC/Treasure Films (Best Screenplay, San Sebastian 1997, selected at Cannes Festival, Edinburgh Festival and Sundance Festival) and MacIntyre (commission for Treasure Films). His award-winning screenplay The Eclipse, which he also directed, is slated for a limited US release this month.Shining City by Conor McPherson

Where: The Plays and Players Theatre
1714 Delancey Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103

Who: Director: Matt Pfeiffer
Set/Sound/Properties Designer: Jorge Cousineau
Lighting Designer: Thom Weaver
Costume Designer: Alison Roberts
Production Manager: Sarah Chandler
Technical Director: Doug Smullens
Stage Management: Meghan Walsh

Cast: John: Scott Greer
Ian: William Zielinski
Neasa: Geneviéve Perrier
Laurence: Keith Conallen

TICKET INFO:
Call 215.218.4022 or on the web at www.theatreexile.org. Ticket prices are $15-$30, Opening Night is $40. Call for specific prices and dates. Student tickets are available. Substantial savings are offered for groups of 10 or more, please call for details.

 

 

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