Anthony Burgess' ONE HAND CLAPPING Gets US Premiere at 59E59 Tonight

59E59 Theaters is thrilled to host Anthony Burgess' ONE HAND CLAPPING, adapted and directed by Lucia Cox. Produced by House of Orphans (Manchester, UK), Anthony Burgess' ONE HAND CLAPPING begins performances tonight, May 5 for a limited engagement through Sunday, May 31. Press opening is Sunday, May 10 at 7:30 PM.

The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday at 8:30 PM; Saturday at 2:30 PM & 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM & 7:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.

Adapted from Anthony Burgess' 1961 novel, this is the darkly comic story of Howard and Janet Shirley. Humdrum as it is, Janet doesn't want their lives to change that much. Janet is quite content working at the supermarket, cooking for her husband three times a day, and watching quiz shows on the television in the evening. But when Howard unleashes his photographic brain on the world, the once modest used car salesman can't seem to stop. And what he sees as the logical conclusion to his success is not something Janet can agree to.

The "devilishly funny" (The Atlantic) novel One Hand Clapping was writer Anthony Burgess' (A Clockwork Orange) response to what he saw as Great Britain's transformation into a "mini-America." Originally published in in the UK in 1961 under the pseudonym Joseph Kell in the UK, the novel railed against what Burgess saw as the degradation of Western culture created by increased consumerism. Lucia Cox's premiere stage adaptation was called "a bitter-sweet portrait of the struggling sanctity of lifetime togetherness amidst the darker side of convenience culture...daringly surreal and innovatively executed!" by The Public Reviews.

Anthony Burgess' ONE HAND CLAPPING features Eve Burley (Channel 4's Secret State with Gabriel Byrne), Oliver Devoti (The Monuments Men with George Clooney), and Adam Urey (Tale Trail to A Christmas Carol at the New Vic Theatre).

The design team includes Meriel Pym (sets, props and costume design) and Owen Rafferty (sound and video design). The production stage manager is Cressa Amundsen.

Lucia Cox (adapter/director) has a BA (Hons) in Acting from Middlesex University and a Masters in Creative Writing from Manchester Metropolitan. She has performed in theatre, film and on TV and has written short films and for the theater and for BBC Learning, for which she is a regular contributor. She has also taught Acting and Creative Writing workshops at MMU and Manchester College. As a director, she has worked with Asphalt Roses and the Threepenny Festival and has also directed work for JB Shorts, The House That Stank of Death, re:play festival amongst directing her own work. As a producer, she has worked with Shred, Eat Theatre, The Unholy Mess and Watershed. She is the founder of House of Orphans.

Photo by Sam Huddleton