Theater at the Tank Presents Endurance 11/4-7

Office gymnastics meets daring Antarctic exploration in the unlikely setting of a Hartford insurance office in this inventive and funny piece. Masters of movement, Split Knuckle Theatre, have performed their original, fascinating works internationally and will bring the World Premiere of Endurance to The Tank November 4-7 at 7pm. Tickets are available online for $12 at Brown Paper Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/122006

Trapped in Antarctica with no hope of rescue, the great British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton kept 27 men alive for two years in the most inhospitable climate on earth. Ninety-five year later, in the worst economic meltdown since the Great Depression, Hartford insurance man Walter Spivey, struggling to save his employees' jobs, relives Shackleton's story. Can one of the greatest leaders in human history inspire him to conquer the corporate world? Two survival stories collide in this inventive and surprising adventure where desks become ship decks and four actors become dozens of characters in a story that spans 95 years and 8000 miles.

About SPLIT KNUCKLE THEATRE COMPANY:
Split Knuckle is a critically acclaimed company that creates dynamic, physical, visually striking theatre from simple materials. Through imagination, text, and movement, we create vast landscapes, vivid characters, and epic stories. We make powerful theatre engaging the audience and performers in collective acts of imagination. Using the expressive power of the human voice and body, we tell stories confronting the wonders and challenges of life in our world.

Split Knuckle is actively developing innovative theatre and we perform, direct, teach, and lead workshops in the USA, UK, Argentina, and other communities around the globe. Our company members trained at the London International School of Performing Arts in the methods of Jacques Lecoq. We also bring our individual experiences from Shakespeare & Company, MFA acting programs around the USA, and many years professionally treading the boards.

About the Artists:
JASON BOHON (Larry, Hurley, Orde-Lees), a member of the Actors' Equity Association, is a director, actor, and teaching artist living in New York. He is a founding member of 3 Sticks Theatre Company in Minneapolis and a member of Split Knuckle Theatre Company. He has worked with Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Theater Latte Da, Children's Theatre Company, Minnesota Orchestra, Shakespeare Theatre of NJ, and Kansas City Repertory Theatre. He recently directed An Absolute Turkey at New Players Company, Uncanny Valley at Ars Nova, and Love Monster at Dixon Place. He holds an MFA from the London International School of Performing Arts and a BFA from the University of Central Missouri. www.JasonBohon.com

Andrew Grusetskie (Mark, Worsley, McNish), a member of the Actors' Equity Association, is a founding member of Split Knuckle Theatre and has created and performed in both Endurance and Steinbeck's The Pearl. An Associate Artist with the New York-based ACTIVE EYE Theater Company, Andrew has appeared in its productions of Hard Lovin' Ever After, Woyzeck and Senjo, and wrote the adaptation of Dojoji, which premiered at the Cleveland Public Theater in 2004. Other New York credits include Billy Budd (Metropolitan Playhouse), Voyage of the Carcass (Stage 13), Corporate Carnival (Women's Project), and Life is a Dream (Edge Theater Company). Regional work includes Around the World in 80 Days (Westport Country Playhouse), The Mousetrap (Olney Theatre), School for Scandal and The Odyssey (McCarter Theatre), Arabian Nights (Connecticut Repertory Theatre), Proof, Stones in His Pockets and Rough Crossing (Northern Stage). Andrew is a graduate of Yale University and the London International School of Performing Arts.

MICHAEL F. TOOMEY (Walter Spivey, Frank Wild), a member of Actors' Equity Association, is a founding member/trustee of Split Knuckle Theatre and co-creator of Endurance. He has also been a member of the nationally acclaimed Shakespeare * Company in Lenox, MA since 1998, where he appeared in such roles as Macbeth (title role), Hamlet (Polonius), The Ladies Man (Bassinet), Henry V (Bardolph), Scapin (title role), and Caesar (title role). Michael appeared on PBS' Brush Up On Your Shakespeare (Mercutio) and BBC Radio Four's American Heavy (Hank). Michael is a Visiting Professor at Binghamton University, where he teaches Clown and Stage Violence and recently directed Henry V. He is a graduate of the London International School of Performing Arts.

GREG WEBSTER (Ben, Sir Ernest Shackleton), a member of Actors' Equity Association, is a founding member and the Artistic Director of Split Knuckle Theatre Company. He last appeared on the CRT stage as The Common Man in A Man For All Seasons. Greg is also on faculty as a professor of Movement Theater at UConn. Greg is the primary movement coach and the resident fight choreographer for CRT. He is also a founding member of Bated Breath Theater Company in Hartford. As a performer, choreographer, and teacher, he has worked from Broadway to the West End. Greg holds an MFA in Acting and Directing from the University of Missouri- Kansas City and is a graduate of the London International School of Performing Arts. Greg is a certified teacher of Authentic Pilates Method of body conditioning and the Gyrotonic expansion system. He has been a licensed personal trainer for more than ten years, is a former Golden Gloves boxer, and holds a black belt in Aikido.

DAN ROUSSEAU (Lighting Designer) The Last 5 Years, Shakespeare Abridged, Collected Stories (Playhouse on Park), Endurance (Ars Nova, CRT), Impact (Nutmeg Ballet), Love Monster (Dixon Place, NYC), Steel Magnolias (Ivoryton Playhouse), Pentecost, Restoration Comedy, Marcus is Walking (Connecticut Repertory Theatre), The Pearl (Split Knuckle), Forces of Nature (CT Forest & Park Association/ The Bushnell). Assistant lighting designer/director, CNN Studios NYC (The Joy Behar Show, Situation Room, Larry King Live, Fareed Zakaria GPS, Show Biz Tonight, AC360) BFA Design/Technical Theatre (Honors), University of Connecticut.

Ken Clark (Music Director) has been a lecturer in the UConn Music Department since 1981, and has worked with the UConn Drama Department since 1979. Ken's recent work includes The Who's Tommy, Hair, Abraham Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party, and Galileo, (CRT); Orphan's Home Cycle, Our Town, and A Christmas Carol (Hartford Stage); The Fantasticks (Windham Theatre Guild); and Sweeney Todd (EO Smith High School). In addition to Endurance (CRT), his new projects included All Shook Up for Windham Theater Guild.

NICK RYAN (Writer) is a founding member and resident playwright for Four Humors Theater in Minneapolis. He has written seven shows for the company, including Bards, Deviled Eggs, and Harold. The Four Humor production Mortem Capiendum was featured in Singled Out: A Festival of Emerging Artists at the Guthrie Theater. He recently collaborated with 3 Sticks Theatre Company, providing text for their new musical Uncanny Valley at Ars Nova Theater and performing the role of Donkey in the animal glam rock band The Traveling Musicians of Brementown.