59E59 Theaters Hosts the World Premiere of GOODBODY

59E59 Theaters welcomes the world premiere of GOODBODY, written by J.C. Ernst and directed by Melissa Firlit. Produced by The Crook Theater Company, GOODBODY begins performances on Saturday, October 6 for a limited engagement through Sunday, November 4. Press Opening is Thursday, October 11 at 7:30 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Friday at 7:30 PM;Saturday at 2:30 PM & 7:30 PM; and Sunday at 2:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison). Single tickets are $25 ($20 for 59E59 Members). Tickets are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or by visiting www.59e59.org.

Marla wakes up in a barn upstate to find herself standing over a freshly murdered corpse with the smoking gun in her hand. Can she trust Spencer, the beaten and bound man cowering in the corner to jog her memories of the events that brought them all here? What heinous acts could she be capable of? What ensues is an ultra-violent, profane fantasia of hilarious and shocking proportions.

Inspired by the hyper-violence and dark humor of Martin McDonagh and Quentin Tarantino, GOODBODYis a pulse pounding gangster yarn that features a female anti-hero at the core of the story.

The cast features Raife Baker (regional credits include A.C.T., Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Brian Keane (War Horse at Lincoln Center), Alex Morf (Of Mice and Men on Broadway), and Amanda Sykes(Drunkle Vanya with Three Day Hangover).

The design team includes Matthew D. McCarren (scenic and lighting design); Dan Morrison (costume design); and Matt Bittner (sound design). The fight director is Cliff Williams III.

J.C. Ernst (playwright) is the co-founder and artistic director of The Crook Theater Company, which won the NYIT Award for best play for its production of Macbeth. He has directed Plunge and The House of Yeswith The Crook Theater Company. As an actor, he was most recently seen in the title role of Salt Lake Acting Company's production of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and in Hunger & Thirst's Messenger #1at NYC's The Paradise Factory. He played Jamie in the West Coast premiere of The Wendy Play by Amy Herzog and Fred in A Christmas Carol at the American Conservatory Theater. Favorite roles include Pink in a staged version of Pink Floyd's THE WALL, Big Josh in BIG, The Musical!, Vince in Tape, File in The Rainmaker, Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, Eugene Marchbanks in Shaw's Candida, and Romeo inRomeo and Juliet. He has performed with the Hunger & Thirst Theatre Collective, The Salt Lake Shakespeare Festival, and work-shopped J.T. Rogers' critically acclaimed play The Overwhelming with the Salt Lake Acting Company. J.C. holds a BFA. from the University of Utah and an MFA. from the A.C.T. in San Francisco. He is a proud member of Actors' Equity. GOODBODY is his first play.

Melissa Firlit (director) is a 2018 Alan Schneider Director Award Nominee and a Zelda Finchlander Award Nominee. She recently directed the Ireland National Tour of Misterman by Enda Walsh. Regional Credits: Seeds of Change, Albert Porter: Boy Explorer (Creede Repertory Theatre); Trojan Women: A Love Story (Fort Lewis College); West Side Story, Aida, Circle Mirror Transformation, The Pillowman, The Secret Garden, Red (Pagosa Springs Center for the Arts); Dracula (Mile Square Theatre); The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Princeton Festival); Stop Kiss (Wagner College); Under Construction, Machinal, boom, Fabulation, or the Re-education of Undine (Rutgers Theater Company.) As part of her personal commitment to collaboration with playwrights, Melissa dedicates a lot of her time to plays in various stages of development. Some of her new play credits: The Texas Homecoming Revolution of 1995 (Best Medicine Rep); I'm Just Fine (FringeNYC, solocomNYC); BUBBA (FringeNYC, United Solo); Annabel Lee (Apothecary Theatre Co); Bunting or Flags (New Light Theatre Project.) To provide up and coming thespians with the same passion she thrives on, Melissa helms a Musical Theatre Bootcamp Program at The College of St. Rose, is a teaching artist with McCarter Theatre Center and does workshops at various organizations and colleges. Training: MFA Directing Rutgers University, BA Theater the University of Hartford and The O'Neill National Theater Institute. Associate Member SDC. www.melissafirlit.com.

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