HANDBAGGED Makes NYC Premiere At Brits Off Broadway At 59E59 Theaters

59E59 Theaters (Val Day, Artistic Director; Brian Beirne, Managing Director) is thrilled to welcome to Brits Off Broadway the NYC premiere of HANDBAGGED, written by Moira Buffini and directed by Indhu Rubasingham. Produced by Round House Theatre, HANDBAGGED begins performances on Tuesday, June 4 for a limited engagement through Sunday, June 30. Press Opening is Wednesday, June 12 at 7:00 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Friday at 7:00 PM; Saturday at 2:00 PM & 7:00 PM; and Sunday at 2:00 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison). Single tickets are $25 - $70 ($49 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call the 59E59 Box Office at 646-892-7999 or visit www.59e59.org.

The Iron Lady. The Queen. Born six months apart, each woman had a destiny that would change the world. But when the stiff upper lip softened and the gloves came off, which one had the upper hand?

Indhu Rubasingham, Artistic Director of the Kiln Theatre (formerly known as the Tricycle Theatre), returns to direct after helming acclaimed productions at Round House, Tricycle, and in the West End. Called "a hilarious, intelligent treat" by Time Out London, HANDBAGGED is the wickedly funny comedy that imagines what the world's most powerful women talk about behind closed palace doors.

The cast features Anita Carey (The Daughter In Law at the New Vic), Kate Fahy (Handbagged at the Tricycle Theatre and Round House), Beth Hylton (Handbagged at Round House), John Lescault (The Music Man at Arena Stage), Susan Lynskey (Roe at Arena Stage), and Cody LeRoy Wilson (As You Like It at the Folger Theatre).

The design team includes Richard Kent (scenic and costume design); Jesse Belsky (lighting design); and Carolyn Downing (sound design). The Production Stage Manager is Che Wernsman.

Moira Buffini's (playwright) plays include Oliver Award-winning Handbagged for the Tricycle; Welcome to Thebes, Wonder.land (with Damon Albarn), and Dinner (Olivier nominated) for the National Theatre; Dying for It (adapted from Nikolai Erdman's The Suicide) for the Almeida; A Vampire Story for National Theatre Connections; Loveplay for the RSC; Silence (Susan Smith Blackburn Prize) for Birmingham Rep; Gabriel (LWT Plays on Stage and Meyer Whitworth Awards) for the Soho; Blavatsky's Tower for the Machine Room; Jordan with Anna Reynolds (Writers' Guild Award) for the Gate. Both Dinner and Handbagged have enjoyed West End transfers. Screenplays include Jane Eyre, directed by Cary Fukanaga; Tamara Drewe, directed by Stephen Frears; Byzantium, directed by Neil Jordan. She is co-creator and lead writer of Harlots for Hulu.

Indhu Rubasingham (director) has been the Artistic Director of the Tricycle Theatre, now the Kiln Theatre, since 2012. Productions as Artistic Director include: Red Velvet (Evening Standard Award and Critics' Circle Award, also at St. Ann's Warehouse, NYC and Kenneth Branagh Season, West End), A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes, Multitudes, The House That Will Not Stand, Handbagged (Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, also West End transfer and UK tour), Paper Dolls, and The Invisible Hand. Indhu also recently directed Ugly Lies the Bone and The Motherf**cker with the Hat at the National Theatre. Other selected directing credits include: Women, Power and Politics, Stones in His Pockets, Detaining Justice, The Great Game: Afghanistan, Fabulation and Starstruck (Tricycle); Belong, Disconnect, Free Outgoing, the Evening Standard Award-winning Lift Off, Clubland, The Crutch and Sugar Mummies (Royal Court); Pulitzer Prize-winning play Ruined (Almeida); Yellowman and Pulitzer Prize winning Anna in the Tropics (Hampstead Theatre); The Waiting Room (National Theatre); The Ramayana (National Theatre/Birmingham Rep); Secret Rapture and The Misanthrope (Minerva, Chichester), Romeo and Juliet (Festival Theatre, Chichester), Pure Gold (Soho Theatre); The No Boys Cricket Club and Party Girls (Stratford East); Wuthering Heights (Birmingham Rep); Heartbreak House (Watford Palace); Sugar Dollies, Shakuntala (Gate); Opera includes Another America at the Almeida and Sadler's Wells. Indhu was awarded an MBE in the New Year's Honours List 2017.

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