Internationally Acclaimed Rugby Story ALONE IT STANDS Makes NYC Premiere

59E59 Theaters (Val Day, Artistic Director; Brian Beirne, Managing Director) is thrilled to welcome the NYC premiere of ALONE IT STANDS, written and directed by John Breen. Produced by Gyre and Gimble Productions as part of Origin's 1st Irish Festival, ALONE IT STANDS begins performances on Thursday, January 10 for a limited engagement through Sunday, January 27.

The performance schedule is Tuesday - Saturday at 7:30 PM; and Sunday at 2:30 PM. Please note: there is an added performance on Saturday, January 12 at 2:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison). Single tickets are $25 - $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members). Tickets are available by calling the 59E59 Box Office on 646-892-7999 or by visiting www.59e59.org.

On October 31, 1978 a small Irish provincial rugby team called Munster beat the New Zealand All Blacks 12-0.

It was an event that rocked Ireland. The All Blacks was rightly considered one of the best rugby teams in history. Ireland was in the grip of a recession and war was waging in the North. This David vs Goliath victory captured and entranced Irish people everywhere. This is the story of that great day.

A cast of six actors performs 62 characters including: two rugby teams, the coaches, the fans, The Bunratty singers, nurses, street urchins, a pregnant woman in labor, two babies, and a dog. There is a bonfire, a birth, a wake, and a rugby match that will never be forgotten.

ALONE IT STANDS opened at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin in 2000 and transferred to the West End, where The Guardian said it was "A small play with a big, unaffected heart...staged with considerable verve... Like the match itself, the whole evening is a gloriously live experience." The play has since gone on to tour throughout the world to wide acclaim. The 1st Irish festival run marks its NYC premiere.

The cast features Chase Guthrie Knueven (NYC Debut); Ed Malone (The Home Place, Juno and the Paycock, The Weir at Irish Rep); Rob McDermott (It Folds at The Abbey Theatre, Dublin), David O'Hara (Three Small Irish Masterpieces, Juno and the Paycock at Irish Rep), Henry Raber (Theatre Smash at the York Theatre); and Sarah Street (Rebel in the Soul at Irish Rep).

Lighting design is Michael O Connor with the remaining design team to be announced.

John Breen (playwright/director) is best known as the writer/ director of the hit play Alone It Stands which tells the story of Munster's victory over the All Blacks in 1978. He was awarded the Irish Times/ESB Theatre Award in February 2000 for Best Director for his direction. The play has been seen all over Ireland, the UK, Australia, France, Malaysia, New Zealand and in Tasmania. It is estimated that two hundred and sixty thousand people worldwide have seen the play. It is on the National curriculum in Ireland for Middle schools.

Before moving to New York in 2014, he was the artistic director of Second Age Theatre Company in Dublin, producing Shakespeare for high school students. Previously he was the artistic director of TEAM Educational Theatre and Yew Theatre Productions in Mayo a post he held for ten years. Breakdown, an Opera he wrote with Composer Andrew Synnott, was performed at the National Concert Hall in January 2015.

Directing work for the City Arts Centre, Dublin: Someone Who'll Watch Over Me by Frank McGuinness for Island Theatre Company Limerick; The Road to Mecca by Athol Fugard; Galileo by Berthold Brecht; Our Country's Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker; Our Town by Thornton Wilder; and The Pillars of Society by Henrik Ibsen.

Directing work for Yew Tree: Big Maggie by John B. Keane; Grand by Max Hafler; Village Wooing by George Bernard Shaw; The Playboy of the Western World by JM Synge; Mrs Warren's Profession by G. Bernard Shaw; Sarah's Comfort by Niamh Mc Grath; Fr Mathew by Sean Mc Carthy. He also directed his own plays: Alone It Stands, Charlie, and The Magic Boy. His play Falling Out of Love was directed by Mikel Murfi for Yew Tree in 2007.

Directing work for TEAM: Devotion by Leo Butler; Skin and Blisters by Audrey O Reilly; Light Signals by Paul Meade; Doughnuts by Eoin Byrne; Sherbet and Tiffin by Pauline Shanahan.

Most recently John directed Othello for Second

was produced by the Galway Arts Festival in 2017.The Quiet Man Age. His new version of Film, TVand Radio: John has developed a script for Working Title Australia about legendary All Black Colin Meads, and has directed this own short film Old Friends as well as The Ring by Christian O Reilly. In 2003 he directed the Comedy series Camera Café and Guards for RTE and the documentary Alone It Stands for Setanta Sports. He has made a Radio Documentary GUSAC; Diverse Divers about a Sub Aqua Club in County Mayo for Mid West Radio/BAI.

He is currently under commission by the Irish Film Board to adapt his stage play Alone It Stands into a feature film.