Damascus Makes NYC Premiere at Brits Off B'way 5/6

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) welcomes the Traverse Theatre Company (Edinburgh, Scotland) to Brits Off Broadway with the NYC premiere of David Greig's DAMASCUS, directed by Philip Howard and starring Ewen Bremner.  DAMASCUS, which plays in Theater A, begins performances on Tuesday, May 6 for a limited engagement through Sunday, June 1.  Press opening is Sunday, May 11 at 7:00 PM.  The performance schedule is Tuesday – Friday at 8:00 PM; Saturday at 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM; and Sunday at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM. Tickets are $47.50 ($33.25 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.ticketcentral.com.  For more information, visit www.59e59.org or www.britsoffbroadway.com.

Welcome to DAMASCUS, the oldest continuously inhabited city on Earth, a jewel of the Arab world and the cross-roads of the Middle East.  A brief encounter in a Syrian hotel finds a Scottish businessman grappling with language and love, meanings and misunderstandings. Laughter, romance and tragedy meet in DAMASCUS, which premiered at Traverse Theatre in the 2007 Edinburgh Festival, winning a prestigious Scotsman Fringe First Award.                                                                                        

DAMASCUS is the second play at Brits Off Broadway by Scotland's top playwright David Greig, whose adaptation of The Bacchae, starring Alan Cumming, will be seen at the Lincoln Center Festival this summer. Joyce McMillan in the Scotsman called DAMASCUS, "that rarest of things: a well made and hugely entertaining contemporary comedy… Captured in a beautiful, simmeringly tense production."

Hollywood actor, and Scotland native, Ewen Bremner makes his NYC stage debut at Brits Off Broadway with DAMASCUS.  Mr. Bremner starred in the original stage production of Trainspotting at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow, the subsequent London transfer and went on to co-star in the critically acclaimed independent film adaptation. One of the top young character actors working in Hollywood, he has co-starred in a variety of studio and independent films such as Black Hawk Down, Woody Allen's Match Point, Guy Richie's Snatch, Harmony Korine's Julien Donkey Boy and Mike Leigh's Naked.  On stage, he has appeared at the Donmar Warehouse, the Lyric Hammersmith, the Bush Theatre and the Royal Court, among many others.

Joining Mr. Bremner in the cast are Nathalie Armin, Alex Elliott, Dolya Gavanski, Khalid Laith.

David Greig (playwright). For the Traverse: When The Bulbul Stopped Singing, Outlying Islands, The Speculator, Danny 306+Me (4ever), The Architect, Europe. Other theatre includes: Futurology (Suspect Culture/ National Theatre of Scotland); Gobbo (National Theatre of Scotland); The American Pilot, Victoria (Royal Shakespeare Company); Ramallah (Royal Court); San Diego (Edinburgh International Festival/Tron Theatre); 8000m, Lament, Casanova, Candide 2000, One Way Street, Airport, Timeless, Mainstream (Suspect Culture); Pyrenees, The Cosmonaut's Last Message to the Woman He Once Loved in the Former Soviet Union (Tron Theatre); Caledonia Dreaming (7:84 Theatre Company);Yellow Moon, Dr Korcak's Example (TAG Citizens Theatre). Translations and adaptations include: The Bacchae (Edinburgh International Festival/National Theatre of Scotland); Caligua (Donmar Warehouse); Battle of Will (National Theatre Studio). He has written a number of radio plays for BBC Radio and is currently working on a full-length feature film for Kudos. David is dramaturg for The National Theatre of Scotland.

Philip Howard (director) trained under Max Stafford-Clark at The Royal Court Theatre, London, on the Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme from 1988-1990.  He was Associate Director at the Traverse from 1993-1996, and has been Artistic Director since 1996.  Productions at the Traverse include 22 world premieres of plays by David Greig, David Harrower, Iain F MacLeod, Linda McLean, Henry Adam, Catherine Czerkawska, Catherine Grosvenor, Sue Glover, Iain Heggie, Jules Horne, Nicola McCartney, Ronan O'Donnell and the late Iain Crichton Smith.  Fringe First awards for Kill the Old Torture Their Young, Wiping My Mother's Arse, Outlying Islands and Damascus; Herald Angel Award, 1998, and Herald Archangel Award, 2007; Jury Special Award for Production of Petrol Jesus Nightmare #5 (In the Time of the Messiah) at InFest, National Theatre of Priština, Kosovo.  Other productions at the Traverse include Faith Healer by Brian Friel, The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek by Naomi Wallace, Cuttin' a Rug by John Byrne, When the Bulbul Stopped Singing by Raja Shehadeh (also Fadjr International Festival, Tehran; Off-Broadway, New York; Amman, Jordan) and, as Co-Director, Solemn Mass for a Full Moon in Summer by Michel Tremblay (Traverse/Barbican).  Productions elsewhere include Words of Advice for Young People by Ioanna Anderson (Rough Magic, Dublin), The Speculator by David Greig in Catalan (Grec Festival, Barcelona/Edinburgh International Festival), Entertaining Mr Sloane (Royal, Northampton) and Something About Us (Lyric Hammersmith Studio).  Radio credits include Being Norwegian by David Greig, The Gold Digger by Iain F MacLeod (BBC Radio Scotland); The Room by Paul Brennen (BBC Radio 4).

The design team features Anthony MacIlwaine (sets and costumes), Chahine Yavroyan (lighting) and Graham Sutherland (sound).  Original music is composed and arranged by Jon Beales.