Jesse Eisenberg to Star in His Off-Broadway Show, THE SPOILS, in London, May 27

The European premiere of The New Group's critically acclaimed Off-Broadway production, The Spoils, a razor-sharp new comedy written by and starring internationally acclaimed actor Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice), will transfer for a strictly limited season at London's Trafalgar Studios, from 27 May to 13 August, with press night on 2 June.

Eisenberg's third play, The Spoils originally ran Off-Broadway, to critical acclaim, in 2015 at The Pershing Square Signature Center from 5 May to 28 June. This play cements his reputation as a talented playwright whose tragicomic work explores questions of American privilege and the nature of family and relationships. The production is directed by The New Group's Artistic Director, Scott Elliott, and stars Jesse as Ben, alongside his original co-star, Kunal Nayyar (The Big Bang Theory) as Kalyan. Further casting to be announced in due course.

A cuttingly satirical glimpse of a lost soul searching to assent the reality of his situation. Perceptively disconcerting, The Spoils speaks to the exasperated, self-analysing millennial generation. A painfully awkward comedy, not to be missed!

Nobody likes Ben. Ben doesn't even like Ben. He bullies everyone in his life, including his roommate Kalyan, an earnest Nepalese immigrant. When Ben discovers that his school crush is marrying a straight-laced banker, he sets out to destroy their relationship and win her back.

The Spoils has set design by Derek McLane, costume design by Susan Hilferty, lighting design by Peter Kaczorowski, sound design by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen and projection design by Olivia Sebesky.

Jesse Eisenberg said "The Spoils explores issues as disparate as stunted sexuality and the politics of the deposed Nepalese Monarchy, NFL on Fox and the fluctuating prices of tea on the agrarian market. It's about how all of these seemingly unrelated things intersect to create a portrait of life in a complicated, heterogeneous society. I'm thrilled to perform this play in London, such an incredible centre for theatre."

Scott Elliott, Artistic Director, The New Group said "When ATG offered us the opportunity to bring a New Group show from New York to Trafalgar Studios I just couldn't resist. It's been a decade since we were on the West End with our production of Avenue Q and Jesse Eisenberg's The Spoils, a fiercely emotional, finely observed ensemble play written by and starring a truly singular artist, seemed the perfect way for London theatergoers to become reacquainted with our work. Everyone knows Jesse the brilliant film actor but Jesse the theater artist is truly remarkable, and I'm thrilled and honored to be able to introduce his work to the West End."

Ambassador Theatre Group and Lisa Matlin present The New Group production of The Spoils.

Jesse Eisenberg (Ben) is a BAFTA, Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee, garnering praise for his portrayal of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network. A multifaceted and dynamic actor, he is also an acclaimed author and playwright.

Eisenberg's past film credits include The Social Network, To Rome With Love directed by Woody Allen, Roger Dodger, The Squid and the Whale, The Education of Charlie Banks, Zombieland, Adventureland, 30 Minutes or Less, The Double, Night Moves, Now You See Me, American Ultra and The End of Tour. He can currently be seen in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and in the upcoming release Louder Than Bombs.

Eisenberg has been in various plays, including his play The Spoils in 2015 for The New Group at The Pershing Square Signature Center. Eisenberg wrote and starred alongside Vanessa Redgrave in his play The Revisionist at the Cherry Lane Theatre, and in 2011 he wrote and starred in the play Asuncion, also at the Cherry Lane Theatre, earning a Drama League nomination for Distinguished Performance.

Born in New York, Eisenberg is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker magazine and the author of the novel of short stories Bream Gives Me Hiccups, from Grove Press.

Kunal Nayyar (Kalyan) starred in the original cast of The New Group's Off-Broadway production of The Spoils at The Pershing Square Signature Center, and will be making his West End debut in the play this year.

Nayyar is best known for his work as the loveable astrophysicist Raj Koothrappali on television's #1 comedy, The Big Bang Theory. The series has been nominated for multiple Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and Critics Choice Awards. The show has won the People's Choice Award for favorite network TV comedy four years in a row. The Big Bang Theory, now in its 9th season, averages 20 million viewers per episode.

Additional stage credits include Huck and Holden at the Dahlia Theater in Los Angeles, for which Nayyar was awarded Best Male Lead in a Play on the West Coast by the Garland Awards, and Love's Labour's Lost at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

Nayyar's other screen credits include the upcoming DreamWorks animation film Trolls, the animated blockbuster feature film Ice Age: Continental Drift, the independent feature film, Consumed, directed by Daryl Wein, a recurring role on the Vince Vaughn produced TBS show, Sullivan & Sons and the character of Ajay on the Nickelodeon animated series, Sanjay and Craig. Nayyar has also guest hosted the late night talk show, The Late Late Show on CBS. He took over the show for three nights and interviewed talent that included Billy Bob Thornton, Bob Newhart Simon Helberg, Sarah Hyland and Britt Robertson. His episodes aired February 25 - 27, 2015 to great ratings.

In addition to his acting career, Nayyar released his first book, Yes, My Accent is Real, in September 2015. The book is a memoir focused on his experiences growing up in India and his journey to becoming an actor. He has also produced the documentary, Beyond All Boundaries, about the competitive sport of Cricket in India and follows three people and their passion for the sport.

Scott Elliott (Director) is an award-winning director, filmmaker and the founding Artistic Director of The New Group, a Tony Award-winning New York theater company where he most recently directed Sam Shepard's Buried Child with Ed Harris, Philip Ridley's Mercury Fur, Jesse Eisenberg's The Spoils with Jesse Eisenberg and Kunal Nayyar, David's Rabe's Sticks and Bones with Bill Pullman and Holly Hunter and Thomas Bradshaw's Burning. Other directing credits include works by Wallace Shawn, Mike Leigh, Francine Volpe, Trevor Griffiths, Joe Orton, Ayub Khan Din, Stephen Bill, Noel Coward, Clare Booth Luce, Anton Chekhov, Christopher Kyle, Arthur Miller, Jon Robin Baitz, Kiki and Herb, Tommy Nohilly, Erika Sheffer, Neil Simon and Bertolt Brecht.

The New Group (Scott Elliott, Artistic Director; Adam Bernstein, Executive Director) is an award-winning, artist-driven company with a commitment to developing and producing powerful, contemporary theater. Founded in 1995, the company was born of Artistic Director Scott Elliott's desire to develop a place for artists to experiment, take risks, and learn from each other without the pressures of commercial theater. While constantly evolving, we strive to maintain an ensemble approach to all our work and an articulated style of emotional immediacy in our acting and productions. In this way, we seek a theater that is adventurous, stimulating and most importantly "now", a true forum for the present culture. Most recent productions include the critically-acclaimed Buried Child with Ed Harris and Amy Madigan; Mark Gerrard's Steve, directed by Cynthia Nixon; and Philip Ridley's Mercury Fur. Other notable productions include Mike Leigh's Ecstasy, Goose-Pimples, Smelling a Rat, Abigail's Party, and Two Thousand Years; Ayub Khan Din's East is East and Rafta, Rafta...; Philip Ridley's The Fastest Clock in the Universe; Kevin Elyot's My Night with Reg; David Rabe's Sticks and Bones with Bill Pullman and Holly Hunter and Hurlyburly; The Kid; and Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind directed by Ethan Hawke. Over the past 21 years, The New Group has received more than 100 awards and nominations for excellence, including the Tony Award for Best Musical (Avenue Q). The New Group and Artistic Director Scott Elliott were honored with a Special Drama Desk Award "for presenting contemporary new voices, and for uncompromisingly raw and powerful productions."

Co-founded by Sir Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire OBE in 1992, the Ambassador Theatre Group Ltd (ATG) is the world's number one live-theatre company with 45 venues in Britain, the US and Australia. ATG is also one of the most prolific and internationally recognised award-winning theatre producers in the world with co-productions in the UK, New York, across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. ATG is the market leader in theatre ticketing services through ATG Tickets, LOVETheatre and Group Line.

ATG's impressive portfolio of West End theatres includes historic buildings such as the Apollo Victoria, Donmar Warehouse, Duke of York's, Fortune, Harold Pinter, Lyceum, Phoenix, Piccadilly, Playhouse, Savoy and Trafalgar Studios 1 and 2. In New York, ATG owns The Lyric Theatre, the largest theatre on Broadway.

In August 2015, ATG acquired ACE Theatrical Group (ACE), a company which specialises in the operation, design, development and construction of world class, live performance venues throughout North America comprising The Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York, The Saenger Theatre in New Orleans, Louisiana, The Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts in New Orleans, Louisiana, The Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, Texas and The Charline McCombs Empire Theatre in San Antonio, Texas.

Earlier that month, ATG became leaseholder and took over the management of the Theatre Royal, Sydney's oldest theatrical institution, one of the city's premier venues and ATG's first theatre in the Asia Pacific region.

ATG has regional UK theatres in Aylesbury, Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Edinburgh, Folkestone, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Richmond, Southport, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, Torquay, Wimbledon, Woking and York.

ATG has offices in London, New York, Sydney, Mannheim and Cologne and is poised to accelerate international expansion.

Current and recent ATG co-productions include Doctor Faustus starring Kit Harington, The Maids, The Homecoming, The End Of Longing, written by and starring Matthew Perry, The Ruling Class starring James McAvoy, Oresteia, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown starring Tamsin Greig, East is East starring Jane Horrocks, Richard III starring Martin Freeman, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels starring Robert Lindsay, Jersey Boys, Priscilla Queen of the Desert starring Jason Donovan/Duncan James, Inala, Love Me Tender, Macbeth starring James McAvoy, The Hothouse starring Simon Russell Beale and John Simm, Passion Play starring Zoë Wanamaker, Posh, Jumpy and Constellations (Royal Court at the Duke of York's), Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 The Musical, Legally Blonde the Musical, Monty Python's Spamalot, The Rocky Horror Show, Goodnight Mister Tom, The Mystery of Charles Dickens starring Simon Callow, South Pacific starring Samantha Womack and Paulo Szot, All New People starring Zach Braff, Ghost the Musical, Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker!, Being Shakespeare starring Simon Callow, The Misanthrope starring Damian Lewis and Keira Knightley, West Side Story, Elling starring John Simm and Guys and Dolls starring Ewan McGregor.

ATG is also mounting productions around the world. ATG's productions in Australia include Legally Blonde the Musical, Thriller Live, The Rocky Horror Show, Guys and Dolls and West Side Story. Recent ATG productions on Broadway include The Mountaintop starring Samuel L Jackson and Angela Bassett, Exit the King starring Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon and John Doyle's award winning production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd. ATG also co-produced Constellations on Broadway and currently co-producing multi Tony award winning The King and I with Lincoln Center Theatre and Paramour, a Cirqu de Soleil musical, at the Lyric Theatre.

ATG has a number of major production company initiatives/partnerships including Jerry Mitchell Productions, Theatre Royal Brighton Productions and Jamie Lloyd Productions. ATG also owns a major national family entertainment and pantomime company, First Family Entertainment (FFE).

ATG has a group partner company Sonia Friedman Productions (SFP), which is a West End and Broadway production company responsible for some of the most successful theatre productions in London and on Broadway over the past few years. Recent SFP West End and Broadway theatre productions and co-productions include the UK premiere of The Book of Mormon, Jez Butterworth's The River on Broadway, starring Hugh Jackman, The Nether, Bend it Like Beckham the Musical, Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Electra, King Charles III, Sunny Afternoon, Shakespeare in Love, Jerusalem, Ghosts, Mojo, Chimerica, Twelfth Night & Richard III and Old Times. Sonia will also collaborate with J. K. Rowling on a new stage play to be based on the Harry Potter stories in co-production with Colin Callender.

ATG is the majority shareholder of BB Group, one of the leading producers and promoters of premium live entertainment in Europe with a particular strength in touring musicals and dance productions throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. BB Group productions include West Side Story, We Will Rock You, The Rocky Horror Show, Cats, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Ballet Revolución and its 2015 co¬productions include The Lion King and The Bodyguard. BB Group has won the tender to re-develop the "Staatenhaus" in Cologne as a 1,700 seat theatre.

Lisa Matlin (Producer)

Broadway: Pippin (Tony Award for Best Musical Revival) at the Music Box Theatre, The Great Comet of 1812 (coming Nov. 16') at the Imperial Theatre; Off Broadway with The New Group: The Jacksonian at the Acorn Theatre, Sticks and Bones, The Spoils and Buried Child all at The Pershing Square Signature Center; The Great Comet of 1812 at the American Repertory Theater, Cambridge MA; (Producer and Director) Documentary: Living with Tourettes.

Upon receiving her MBA '86, Lisa worked as money manager for twenty years with clients including the Federal Reserve Board and many Fortune 500 Companies. Lisa left Wall Street to establish a renowned and unique department store on Manhattan's Upper East Side and ultimately presided over her own private label clothing line. She was appointed Director with Treasurer of Mayor Giuliani's Presidential Exploratory Committee and continued on until he exited the Campaign in 2008.

Lisa joined the Tourette Syndrome Associations Board of Directors in 2008, including service on the Corporate and Professional Council of TSA. In 2011, she was awarded TSA "Humanitarian of the Year". Additionally, she served on the Board of Fighting Chance and Children against Childhood Epilepsy. She was also active with Room to Grow and the Dalton School amongst other affiliations.

Lisa serves on the Executive Committee of The New Group Board of Directors.

Website: atgtickets.com

Twitter: @TheSpoilsShow

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