Helen Edmundson's THE CLEARING Opens Tonight at 59E59 Theaters

59E59 Theaters is hosting Theater 808 with THE CLEARING, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Pamela Moller Kareman. THE CLEARING began performances on Thursday, October 6 for a limited engagement through Sunday, October 23. Press opening is tonight, October 11 at 7:30 PM.

The performance schedule is Tuesday - Saturday at 7:30 PM; Sunday at 3:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $18 ($12.60 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.

Set against Oliver Cromwell's ruthless campaign to force Catholics out of Ireland, Helen Edmundson's THE CLEARING conjures a tale of treachery, romance, and passion. Robert, an English aristocrat, and his free-spirited Irish wife Maddy find their marriage overwhelmed by the dangerous political climate in Ireland, which threatens to separate them for good. Should Robert ensure his own economic prosperity by betraying his wife and child, or should he risk banishment to inhospitable land to keep his family intact?

The cast features Hamish Allan-Headley (The Belle of Belfast at Irish Rep), Quinn Cassavale (Maids of Honor at HERE), Lauren Currie Lewis (Waiting for Lefty with The Working Theater), David Licht ("Boardwalk Empire"), Neil Mayer (LES MISERABLES on Broadway), Ron Sims (Days of Wine and Roses at The Schoolhouse Theater), Jakob von Eichel ("Elementary," "Blacklist," "The Americans"), and Tessa Zugmyer (The Magic Fire, dir. Jack O'Brien, at Berkeley Rep).

Pamela Moller Kareman (director) has worked in the theater for many years as a director, producer, actor and educator. After two seasons directing and acting in the comedy group, Cracker Tokens, at The Manhattan Theater Club's cabaret, she became the artistic director of New York's Acorn Productions. With Acorn she produced numerous shows in New York, including an acclaimed revival of JP Miller's The Fox. In 1997, Ms. Kareman was named artistic director at The Schoolhouse Theater in Croton Falls, New York. Over the many years there she directed and produced over 40 successful productions. As artistic director, she nurtured new playwrights and unearthed little-known gems by renowned writers, as well as presented some of the great American classics. A number of productions directed by Ms. Kareman were moved to Off-Broadway theaters, including Ingmar Bergman's Nora, Arthur Miller's The Crucible, S.N. Behrman's Biography and the award-winning Brownsville Bred by Elaine Del Valle at 59E59. During her tenure The New York Times recognized that The Schoolhouse "has evolved in credibility, professionalism and stature" and called it "Westchester's sole claim to consistent professional theater." Ms. Kareman is currently the executive director of The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater. She is a member of the Drama Department advisory board at LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts and serves on the Commission on Accreditation for the National Association of Schools of Theatre. She is also a proud member of the professional director's union, SDC and a graduate of The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre where she studied with Sanford Meisner.

Helen Edmundson (playwright)'s plays include The Clearing, first staged at The Bush Theatre; Mother Teresa is Dead at The Royal Court; Mary Shelley, first staged by Shared Experience at The Tricycle and on tour; and The Heresy of Love at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Other work includes: Coram Boy at The National Theatre and on Broadway; Zorro at The Garrick Theatre and on tour; and a new version of Calderon's Life is a Dream at The Donmar Warehouse. Her musical adaptation of Swallows and Amazons, written with composer Neil Hannen, was first staged at Bristol Old Vic in 2010, before moving to The Vaudeville Theatre in 2011 and beginning a national tour. It was revived at Bristol Old Vic for Christmas 2014. She has written a number of adaptations including: Émile Zola's Thérèse Raquin at the Bath Theatre Royal and on Broadway; Anna Karenina and Mill on the Floss, which toured nationally and internationally; Gone to Earth; Orestes; and War and Peace, first staged at The National Theatre. Helen has recently completed a screenplay for SeeSaw films and her episodes of the Hat Trick television drama "The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher" were seen on ITV this autumn. She is currently at work on a new play for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and on a screen version of An Inspector Calls for BBC television. She has been the recipient of several awards, including a John Whiting Award for The Clearing, a TMA Award for Anna Karenina and Time Out Awards for Mill on the Floss and Coram Boy. She is an Associate Artist at the Royal Shakespeare Company and at Bristol Old Vic. Her radio credits include: Sense and Sensibility, Anna of the Five Towns, The Mayor of Casterbridge and The Voyage Out, all for BBC Radio 4.

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