Alan Ayckbourn's A BRIEF HISTORY OF WOMEN Makes US Premiere At Brits Off Broadway At 59E59 Theaters

Brits Off Broadway continues at 59E59 Theaters (Val Day, Artistic Director; Brian Beirne, Managing Director) with the US premiere of A BRIEF HISTORY OF WOMEN, written and directed by Alan Ayckbourn. Produced by the Stephen Joseph Theatre, A BRIEF HISTORY OF WOMEN begins performances on Thursday, April 26 for a limited engagement through Sunday, May 27. Press Opening is Wednesday, May 2 at 7:00 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Friday at 7:00 PM; Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 PM & 7:00 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). The single ticket prices range from $25 - $70 ($49 for 59E59 Members). Tickets are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.59e59.org.

From his first unsettling encounter as a very young man in 1925 to an unexpected reunion late in life, Anthony Spates's romantic progress is charted over the course of 60 years. The fireworks, love, and loss come at the funniest moments in this "tear-inducingly tender" (The Times) Ayckbourn comedy.

A comedy in four parts about an unremarkable man and the remarkable women who loved him, left him, or lost him over the decades; and of the equally remarkable old manor house that saw and heard it all happen.

The cast features Russell Dixon, AnTony Eden, Frances Marshall, Laura Matthews, Laurence Pears, and Louise Shuttleworth.

The design team includes Kevin Jenkins (production design) and Jason Taylor (lighting design). Music is composed by Simon Slater. The choreographer is Sheila Carter. The Production Stage Manager is Veronica Aglow.

Alan Ayckbourn (playwright/director) has worked in theater as a playwright and director for over 50 years, rarely if ever tempted by television or film, which perhaps explains why he continues to be so prolific. To date he has written more than 79 plays, many one-act plays and a large amount of work for the younger audience. His work has been translated into over 35 languages, is performed on stage and television throughout the world, and has won countless awards. Major successes include: Relatively Speaking, How The Other Half Loves, Absurd Person Singular, Bedroom Farce, A Chorus Of Disapproval and The Norman Conquests. In recent years, there have been revivals of Season's Greetings and A Small Family Business at the National Theatre. In the West End: Absent Friends, A Chorus Of Disapproval, Relatively Speaking and How The Other Half Loves. In 2015, Chichester mounted an excellent revival of Way Upstream and Hamburg's Schauspielhaus had a sell-out run with its revival of Henceforward. 2016 saw another successful visit to 59E59 Theaters in New York for Brits Off Broadway with the SJT's productions of Confusions and Hero's Welcome attracting universally enthusiastic reviews. Alan also wrote the lyrics for the recent hit Where is Peter Rabbit? at the Old Laundry Theatre, Bowness, in celebration of Beatrix Potter's 150th Anniversary.

Alan was Artistic Director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre from 1972 to 2009 where almost all his plays have been first staged. He continues to direct his latest new work here - this year The Karaoke Theatre Company and Consuming Passions. He received the 2016 Oxford Literary Festival's Honorary Fellowship and in recent years, he has been inducted into American Theatre's Hall of Fame, received the 2010 Critics' Circle Award for Services to the Arts and became the first British playwright to receive both Olivier and Tony Special Lifetime Achievement Awards. He was knighted in 1997 for services to the theater.

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