GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES To Make Its South African Debut

Rajiv Joseph's Gruesome Playground Injuries makes its South African debut!

Gruesome Playground Injuries, the dark comedy by Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph, has its South African premiere at Alexander Bar from 5 to 17 November.

Directed by multiple award-winner Tara Notcutt (The Taming of the Shrew, The Three Little Pigs, ...miskien), the two hander stars Matt Newman as Doug, and introducing Candice Bernstein as Kayleen.

Over the course of 30 years, the lives of Kayleen and Doug intersect at the most bizarre intervals, leading the two childhood friends to compare scars and the physical calamities that keep drawing them together. Gruesome Playground Injuries is a hilarious and haunting celebration of the human spirit.

Press comments about the play include:
"Rajiv Joseph is an artist of original talent." -New York Times.

"Irresistibly odd and exciting...This darkly humorous drama is Rajiv Joseph's most satisfying work." -New York Daily News.

"This wondrous strange two-hander finds as much humour as horror in the play's bizarre events." -Variety.

"Mystical, arresting, and quirkily amusing." -Washington Post.

Gruesome Playground Injuries will run for a limited season at Alexander Bar on November 5th-7th and November 12th-17th at 9pm

Tickets cost R110 or R100 online. Book at: https://alexanderbar.co.za/show/gruesomeplaygroundinjuries/

Gruesome Playground Injuries is presented by arrangement with DALRO (Pty) Limited, www.dalro.co.za

BIOS:

Tara Notcutt - Director

Tara is one of the most prolific directors of her generation. She is a celebrated independent director and producer, as well as Artistic Director of The Pink Couch, with a repertoire of award-winning and internationally travelling work under her belt. She has a BA in Theatre and Performance, majoring in Theatre Making, from the University of Cape Town. She has won the Fleur du Cap Theatre Award Rosalie van der Gucht Prize for New Directors (2010), and the Baxter Theatre/GIPCA/ Theatre Arts Admin Collective Emerging Theatre Director's Bursary (2010). She was a member of the prestigious Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab in New York City (2011), and is one of the Mail and Guardian's Top 200 Young South Africans (2012). Since 2009, Tara has presented works at 45 festivals in 15 cities in 4 countries on 3 continents, but South Africa is her favourite. Her most lauded work includes ...miskien, Mafeking Road, Undermined, The Three Little Pigs, and Three Blind Mice. She is also the South African Associate Director for the UK production of The Gruffalo, created by Tall Stories, and produced by National Arts Festival Grahamstown. Her most recent project was her 50th show that she directed, an all-female production of The Taming of the Shrew, presented at Maynardville Open-Air Theatre in February 2018.

Matt Newman - Doug

Theatre roles include Frazer in Sweet Phoebe and M in c*ck(Alexander Bar Upstairs), Andrew in The Treatment (Theatre Arts Admin Collective), Gremio in The Taming of the Shrew (Southwark Playhouse, London), Tom Snout in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Guildford Shakespeare Company) Robin in Robin Hood (Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds) Brad in The Rocky Horror Show (Civic Theatre, Chelmsford) and They're Playing Our Song (English Theatre, Frankfurt).

Recent television: Outlander (Starz) The Crown (Netflix) and Our Girl (BBC Television).

Candice Bernstein - Kayleen

A graduate of William H. Macy and David Mamet's Atlantic Acting School in New York. New York credits include Rhinoceros (Atlantic),Throwing Your Voice (Atlantic), Never Sleep Alone (Joe's Pub). TVCs include: Deichmann (Poland), Lays (WW), Tic Tac (UK), AAMI Insurance (Australia) & Fruit Water (Israel). She is elated to make her South African stage debut in Gruesome Playground Injuries.

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