Furious Premiere of 'THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS' 11/28

FURIOUS THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS THE SECOND SHOW OF THEIR 2008-2009 SEASON!

THE LOS ANGELES PREMIERE OF THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS Written by Anthony Neilson
Directed by Robert Pescovitz.
Limited Engagement will open on Saturday, November 29 at the Pasadena Playhouse Carrie Hamilton Theatre!

An Elf, Two Thugs and a Prostitute – Happy Holidays - Furious Style!

Furious Theatre Company continues its 2008-2009 season of shows with the Los Angeles Premiere of THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, written by Anthony Neilson (Stitching,Normal ) and directed by Robert Pescovitz (Dinner With Friends, God’s Man in Texas). THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS will preview on Friday, November 28 at 8 p.m. and will open on Saturday, November 29 at 8 p.m. and run through Saturday, December 20 at the home of Furious Theatre Company, the Pasadena Playhouse Carrie Hamilton Theatre, 39 S. El Molino Ave. in Pasadena.
Be Furious for the holidays with their first-ever holiday show. In the Los Angeles premiere of this “adults only” Christmas comedy, two cockney thugs discover what could be a real-life elf during the night shift at a London warehouse on Christmas Eve.  A hooker with a (somewhat) heart of gold also shows up expecting to collect the coveted toy of the season, which was promised to her in exchange for sexual favors. Together, the three try to sort out if the elf is real and may just stumble upon the true meaning of Christmas.        
 
ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

ANTHONY NEILSON (Playwright): Plays include Welfare My Lovely (Traverse Theatre), Normal, (Edinburgh Festival, Finborough Arms), Penetrator (Edinburgh Festival, Finborough, Royal Court Upstairs), The Year of the Family (Finborough), Heredity (Royal Court), The Censor (Finborough, Royal Court) which won the Writers Guild Award for Best Fringe Play 1997.  Also Edward Gant’s Amazing Feats of Lonliness Theatre Royal, Plymouth), Stitching (Traverse, The Bush, national tour) for which he was nominated Evening Standard "Most Promising Newcomer" (2002).  The Lying Kind played in the Jerwood Theatre, Royal Court 2002.  The Wonderful World of Dissocia (2004), played at the Tron, Royal Lyceum Edinburgh and Theatre Royal, Plymouth.  In 2005 Anthony directed the UK premiere of the John Adams opera The Death of Klinghoffer for Edinburgh International Festival/Scottish Opera, which won a Herald Angel Award. Television commissions include Deeper Still, short for C4, which he wrote and directed, A Terrible Coldness (60') for the Granada Crime Story series, Bible John (an episode of "In Suspicious Circumstances"), the feature film spin-off of Cracker and a two-hour Prime Suspect film.  His feature film debut, The Debt Collector, which he wrote and directed was released in 1999 (Dragon Pictures/Film 4) and won the Fipresci (International Critics) Award at the Troia Int Film Festival in the same year. In 2006 he wrote The Menu for The National Theatre and a second new play for Edinburgh Int Festival 2006 called Realism, which he directed at the Lyceum Theatre.  In 2007 The Wonderful World of Dissocia went on national tour in Spring 2007 and opened Dominic Cooke’s first season at the Royal Court Downstairs.  Anthony’s play God in Ruins for the RSC, ran at Soho Theatre Christmas 2007 and his latest play, Relocated, at the The Royal Court in the summer 2008.

ROBERT PESCOVITZ (Director) is an actor, director and ensemble member of Furious Theatre Company.  As a director he has helmed productions of Hamlet at the Gene Bua Theatre in Burbank as well as productions of As You Like It, Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for A Company of Their Own, of which he was a founding co-artistic director.  Robert Is a Los Angeles Drama Critic’s Circle Award winning actor who has worked at L.A. Theatre Works; Mark Taper Forum; The Colony Theatre; Miles Memorial Playhouse; Shakespeare Festival L.A.; Fremont Center Theatre; Odyssey Theatre; The Court Theatre and A Noise Within. His regional credits include: Dinner With Friends and God’s Man in Texas at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, American Players Theatre and Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival.  With Furious Theatre Robert has appeared in Canned Peaches in Syrup, The God Botherers, Scenes From the Big Picture, and Tearing the Loom.   Robert trained at Northwestern University and The American Conservatory Theatre.

ABOUT THE CAST AND THE DESIGN TEAM

The cast of THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS will feature: Doug Newell (Back of the Throat, An Impending Rupture of the Belly), Troy Metcalf (An Impending Rupture of the Belly), Nina Silver (Mr. Punch, Rogue Theatre) and K.M. Davies (U.S. Drag, Canned Peaches in Syrup).

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS - Scenic and Lighting Design is by Christie Wright. Sound Design by Cricket Myers.  Costume Design by Christy Hauptman. The Stage Manager is Liz Eldridge.

SCHEDULE AND PRICING

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS will preview on Friday, November 28 at 8pm and will open on Saturday, November 29 at 8 p.m. and run through Saturday, December 20 at the home of Furious Theatre Company, the Pasadena Playhouse Carrie Hamilton Theatre, 39 S. El Molino Ave. in Pasadena. Performances are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at www.furioustheatre.org or by calling the 24-hour ticket line at 1-800-595-4849.  Single ticket prices are $20; Students $10 rush; Preview is $15.

The critically-acclaimed Furious Theatre Company are artists in residence at the Pasadena Playhouse committed to edgy, innovative and original works. The company debuted in April 2002 after they were generously granted the use of a 9,000 square foot section of Armory Northwest, a former plastics factory. The company converted the raw warehouse into an alternative performance space. Risers were constructed, the lighting grid hung and stage curtains built, all by the ensemble.  In that converted warehouse, they rapidly produced five plays in 12 months. These productions earned 6 NAACP Theatre Award nominations, two LA Weekly Award nominations and numerous critics’ picks from the Los Angeles media. The company also received the Pasadena Arts Council’s Gold Crown Award and The Debut Award from Back Stage West. In September 2003, the City of Pasadena reclaimed the Armory

Northwest and Furious needed to move. After a 13-month search, the Pasadena Playhouse granted

Furious a 4-year residency at its Balcony Theatre (recently renamed the Carrie Hamilton Theatre), The Playhouse's 99-seat Second Stage.  Since its 2004 debut at The Playhouse, Furious Theatre Company has produced  ten premieres, including the World Premieres of Alex Jones’ Canned Peaches in Syrup and Matt Pelfrey’s An Impending Rupture of the Belly (4 LA Weekly Award nominations) as well as Los Angeles Premieres of Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things, Yussef El Guindi’s Back of the Throat (LA Weekly Award Winner: Best Playwright) and Craig Wright’s Grace (Los Angeles Drama Critic’s Circle Award Recipient: Best Production, Best Direction, Best Writing). Furious Theatre Company is led by co-founders and Artistic Council members: Sara Hennessy, Shawn Lee, Vonessa Martin, Eric Pargac, Brad Price and Dámaso Rodriguez. For more info visit www.furioustheatre.org.

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