Cristian Solimeno Joins West End's CHICKEN

The West End production of the "dark and devilish comedy" CHICKEN has actor Cristian Solimeno joining the cast for the final week of its run at the Trafalgar Studio 2, from Monday 16 July until Saturday 21 July 2012.

Set in the Bronx, CHICKEN is a gritty play full of street-smart humour about two childhood pals, Wendall and Floyd, an unhappy wife - and a sickly rooster they are grooming for an illegal cockfight.

Cristian comes directly from filming on Ron Howard’s movie Rush, playing racing driver Arturo Merzario. Cristian has performed at Shakespeare’s Globe, but is still probably best known from the hit TV series Footballers’ Wives. He joins the cast including Craig Kelly (Coronation Street, Queer As Folk) and Lisa Maxwell (Loose Women, The Bill).

Wendall and his pregnant wife Lina’s stifling and cramped apartment is full of the mess of desperate people. Floyd (Solimeno) is kipping down on the sofa, and a visit from his father, his brash ex wife and the local hustler, clearly shows what an unstable upbringing and a burning desire for money can do – but will the c*ckbe their meal ticket?

CHICKEN is an acute observation of modern life in the city, as the dysfunctional friends scrabble and strut like cocks, fighting in the grimy, slightly desperate world they inhabit. There is no working class – this is the world of the new underclass.

Cristian’s role was originally played on Broadway by The Sopranos actor Michael Imperioli.

CHICKEN will play in the West End, at the Trafalgar Studio 2, Whitehall until Saturday 21 July 2012.