International Festival of Arts & Ideas to Present OUR LADIES OF PERPETUAL SUCCOUR

The International Festival of Arts & Ideas announced today that a highlight of its June 11-25, 2016 season will be the U.S. premiere of the critically acclaimed-and wildly entertaining-musical stage play "Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour."

First presented by the National Theatre of Scotland (NTS) and Live Theatre at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2015, "Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour" is a stage adaptation by Lee Hall ("Billy Elliot" and "Shakespeare in Love") of Alan Warner's 1998 cult novel The Sopranos.

Following its performance in New Haven, the play will have its London West End premiere at the National Theatre of Great Britain's Dorfman Theatre, in August 2016.

The internationally touring NTS production of "The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart," presented and much-loved at the 2012 Festival, will be reprised on March 30-April 3, 2016, at the Graduate and Professional Student Center at Yale University (GPSCY) in New Haven.

Festival Executive Director Mary Lou Aleskie said, "We are thrilled to welcome back the National Theatre of Scotland to the Festival with the American premiere of this extraordinary production. 'Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour' sets the stage for the 2016 Festival line-up magnificently with its brilliant combination of hilarity and poignancy featuring the music of Bach, Handel, Bob Marley, and the Electric Light Orchestra. Just the kind of eclectic experience and great story-telling you would expect from Arts & Ideas. With an all-star creative team led by Lee Hall, Vicky Featherstone, and Martin Lowe, Alan Warner's hit teen novel The Sopranos has morphed into a highly inventive theatrical work of art. After presenting the sold-out U.S. premiere of 'Prudencia Hart' in 2012, we are also delighted to welcome 'her' back this spring as a Festival harbinger."

"Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour" tells the raucous coming-of-age story of six school-girls over a single transformative day, as they travel to and from Edinburgh for "song, sex, and sambuca." The dialogue is blisteringly funny even when the girls reveal darker aspects of their personal circumstances. With a soundtrack of classical music and 70s pop rock, "Our Ladies" is a boisterous and life-affirming piece of musical theater. It received five stars from The Times (London).

Adapted by Lee Hall; directed by Vicky Featherstone; music supervisor is Martin Lowe ("Once"); designed by Chloe Lamford; lighting design by Lizzie Powell; choreography by Imogen Knight.
The full calendar for the 2016 season of the Festival will be announced on March 28, 2016.

Discounted ticket packages for the two plays are available on-line through December 31, 2015. $100 for General Public; $80 Festival Members. www.artidea.org

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