Epic Theatre to Present Blackburn-Winning PALACE OF THE END

Epic Theatre Ensemble (formerly Epic Theatre Center) announced today that it will present the New York Premiere of the new drama, Palace of the End by Judith Thompson.  It was also announced yesterday that the Thompson play is the 2008 winner of the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for playwrighting.

Commissioned and developed by Epic Theatre Ensemble, Palace of the End caps a distinguished 30-year career for the Canadian playwright.  Directed by Daniella Topol, the play will begin performances on June 11 at Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Playwrights Horizons.  Opening Night is set for June 23  as part of Epic's current 2007-8 Season.

Palace of the End is a powerful triptych of monologues that intimately explores the experiences of three key figures of the Middle East crisis: Lynndie England, the U.S. soldier who was convicted of abusing detainees at Baghdad's Alu Gharib prison; David Kelly, the British weapons inspector who allegedly committed suicide after being involved in a government scandal; and Nehrjas Al Saffarh, a member of the Communist Party of Iraq who suffered under Saddham Hussein's regime and died when the Americans bombed her home during the initial Gulf War.

Palace of the End is based on the monologue play, My Pyramids by Judith Thompson, first read at the Toronto political cabaret, The Wrecking Ball. The premiere production was subsequently produced by Volcano at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, August 2005. Director: Ross Manson; Lynndie England: Waneta Storms; Lighting Designer: Rebecca Picherack; Stage Manager: JP Robichard. Palace was further developed with the Canadian Stage Company in Toronto where it received its Canadian Premiere in February, 2008.

Tickets will be available as of March 20th through TicketCentral by calling (212) 279-4200 or visiting www.ticketcentral.com.

Winner of OBIE, Lucille Lortel and OTTO Awards, Epic Theatre Ensemble was founded in 2001 by Zak Berkman, Melissa Friedman, Teri Lamm, Ron Russell and James Wallert.  Additional Producing Artists are Godfrey L. Simmons Jr. and Sarah Winkler.  Epic's past productions include Nilaja Sun's No Child..., which Epic commissioned, developed and premiered before its commercial transfer and current national tour, as well as premieres of A Hard Heart by Howard Barker (featuring Kathleen Chalfant), Beauty on the Vine by Zak Berkman (featuring Epic Associates David Strathairn and Olivia Wilde), Hannah and Martin by Kate Fodor (featuring David Strathairn), Einstein's Gift by Vern Thiessen (featuring Aasif Mandvi and Shawn Elliott), Habitat by Judith Thompson and revivals of GB Shaw's Widowers' Houses (with Peter Jay Fernandez), Little Eyolf by Henrik Ibsen and Time and the Conways by J.B. Priestley.

The complete casting, design team and performance schedule for Palace of the End will be announced shortly.

Bios

Judith Thompson's critically acclaimed Palace of the End recently concluded a limited engagement production at Canadian Stage Company in Toronto. It will transfer Off-Broadway when the Epic Theatre Ensemble's New York premiere production begins performances at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Playwrights Horizons in June. Also for Canadian Stage: Habitat (Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist). She was most recently awarded the 2007 Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts, Officer of the Order of Canada. Other plays include: Enoch Arden at the Hope Shelter; Capture Me; Perfect Pie; Sled; Lion in the Streets; I Am Yours; White Biting Dog; The Crackwalker. Film and television Perfect Pie (Rhombus Media); Lost and Delirious (Cite-Amerique); Life With Billy (co-writer) (Salter Street Films for CBC).A full professor at the University of Guelph since 1993, Judith lives in Toronto with her husband, five children, a dog and two cats. She directs Shakespeare with kids grades 4-6 every spring

Daniella Topol (Director) is the Artistic Program Director at the Lark Play Development Center as well as a freelance director of new plays. Her NYC productions include: Sheila Callaghan's Dead City (New Georges), Peter Gil-Sheridan's Topsy Turvy Mouse (Cherry Lane Theatre), Stanton Wood's Snow Queen (Urban Stages), Zakiyyah Alexander's Sick (Summer Play Festival), David Simpatico's Mary (NYC Fringe), and she has directed numerous readings and workshops around town. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon's Directing Program, Daniella was previously the New Works Program Director at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre and the Associate Producing Director at City Theatre in Pittsburgh. She is an NYTW Usual Suspect and a HARP artist at HERE developing a new epic piece on floods with Sheila Callaghan and William Cusick. Upcoming productions include: Trista Baldwin's SAND (Women's Project and Productions), Kim Oler, Sean Hartley and Alison Hubbard's musical Little Women (Village Theatre, WA) and Sheila Callaghan's Lascivious Something (Cherry Lane Theatre).