Canal Park Playhouse to Present SOMEONE WHO’LL WATCH OVER ME, Beginning 6/20

Canal Park Playhouse and The TRUF will present the first NY revival of SOMEONE WHO'LL WATCH OVER ME, written by Frank McGuinness and directed by Justin Lauro. SOMEONE WHO'LL WATCH OVER ME begins performances on Wednesday, June 20 for a limited engagement through Saturday, July 14. Press opening is Wednesday, June 27 at 8 PM. The performance schedule is Wednesday – Saturday at 8 PM. Performances take place at Canal Park Playhouse (508 Canal Street, between Greenwich and West Streets in Tribeca). The regular ticket price is $18. For tickets or more information, call OvationTix on 1-866-811-4111 or visit www.canalparkplayhouse.com.

Not seen in New York since its Tony Award-nominated Broadway premiere, SOMEONE WHO'LL WATCH OVER ME explores the bonds forged between an Englishman, an Irishman and an American who are held as political prisoners in Beirut.  While their captors use silence as a weapon, the men's survival depends on their communication with each other. Through sharing stories from their past, an imagined present and a hopeful future, these three men find strength in creating unbreakable friendships under dire circumstances.

The themes of SOMEONE WHO'LL WATCH OVER ME are explored in the family-friendly show SARAZAD AND THE MONSTER-KING, running on Saturdays and Sundays at 1 PM & 4 PM. This re-imagining of the story of Scheherazade or The 1001 Arabian Nights is about a shy 9 year-old girl who tames a Monster King with her ability to weave spectacular stories.

By pairing two multigenerational pieces, themes relevant to young and old are intertwined, blurring the line that divides the two, and opening a conversation between adults and children about the issues and ideas raised in each play.

The cast of SOMEONE WHO'LL WATCH OVER ME features PatRick Taylor (10x20 at Atlantic Theatre Company; Dionysus in '69: A Revival at The Performing Garage); Timothy Riley (A Show of Force for Siti Company); and Alex Teachey.

The lighting design is by Daniel Dungan. The costume design is by Sabrina Khan. The stage manager is Sarah Perlin.

Justin Lauro (director) is a classically trained actor, having studied at the Atlantic Theater Company Acting School and International Theater Workshop in Amsterdam.   He served as assistant director to acclaimed Dutch director and Brecht scholar Paul Binnerts for NYU's Main Stage production of Bertolt Brecht's Man is Man, later performing in a revival of the production at the HERE Arts Center in downtown New York.  Justin adapted Carol Churchill's teleplay The After-Dinner Joke for the stage and directed its US premiere at the Barrow Group Theater.  A certified actor-combatant with the SAFD, Justin has worked as an assistant fight director at the Atlantic Theater Company and fight choreographer at New York Renaissance Faire and Fort Tryon Park Medieval Festival.  Other acting credits include Twelfth Night, Our Country's Good, and 15-Minute Hamlet. He attended New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, where he graduated with a B.F.A. in theater.

Frank McGuinness (playwright) is an Irish playwright and novelist who lives and works in Dublin.  Some of his plays include The Factory Girls, Mutabilitie, Gates of Gold, There Came a Gypsy Riding and Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching towards the Somme. He was nominated for a Tony Award in 1993 for his play Someone Who'll Watch Over Me.  He has adapted works of Lorca, Chekhov, Brecht, Strindberg, Pirandello and Sophocles. Currently, Mr. McGuinness teaches creative writing at the University College Dublin.