Murray Directs Maxwell in Off-Bway's 'Shape of Metal'

59E59 Theaters welcomes the return of Origin Theatre Company with the US premiere of Thomas Kilroy's The Shape of Metal, directed by Brian Murray and starring Roberta Maxwell. Produced in association with The Sullivan Project, the play begins performances on Saturday, September 8 for a limited engagement through Sunday, September 30.  Press opening is Wednesday, September 12 at 8:15 PM. 

"On the eve of the opening of a permanent exhibition of her work at the Museum of Modern Art, the world-renowned sculptor Nell Jeffrey and her daughter Judith struggle to come to terms with the  disappearance of Grace, Judith's elder sister, who walked out of her mother's studio thirty years before. The mystery of Grace's disappearance lies at the heart of the play, and haunts both Judith's life and Nell's work until finally, through a cruel twist of fate,  mother and daughter are forced to confront the events of the past, and exorcise its unquiet ghosts," state press notes.

Celebrated actress Roberta Maxwell portrays the play's epic central character Nell.  Ms. Maxwell's long list of theater credits her  Broadway debut in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1968, as well as the original Broadway production of Equus, starring Anthony Hopkins, in the role of Jill in Equus.  Ms. Maxwell has received two Obie Awards (one shared with Brian Murray, for Ashes) as well as a Drama  Desk Award, and has appeared in numerous film and television roles. Joining Ms. Maxwell are Julia Gibson, whose numerous New York credits including Mary Zimmerman's Arabian Nights at Manhattan Theater Club and Theresa Rebeck's The View of the Dome at NY Theater Workshop; and  Molly Ward, a recent graduate from the American Repertory Theater in Boston who was featured in Paradise Hotel at the Ontological.

Brian Murray (director) made his stage debut in 1950 as Taplow in The Browning Version in his native South Africa and continued on the South African stage until 1957. He then joined the Royal Shakespeare Company where his credits included Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Horatio in Hamlet, Cassio in Othello, Edgar in King Lear and Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream.  He is a three-time Tony nominee for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Little Foxes and The Crucible, as well as a recipient of multiple Obie (Ashes and The Play About the Baby) and Drama Desk (Noises Off, Travels with My Aunt and The Little Foxes) Awards.  Most recently, he starred in the Irish Rep revival of Gaslight and in Colder Than Here at MCC. He was last seen on Broadway in the Lincoln Center Theater production of The Rivals. Also a distinguished director, his Broadway directing credits include Hay Fever, Arsenic and Old Lace, Blithe Spirit and The Circle.

Award-winning Thomas Kilroy (playwright) is one of Ireland's most distinguished playwrights, with 13 stage plays to his credit, most of which have premiered at The Abbey Theatre, Dublin, including The Shape of Metal.  In his early career he was play editor at the Abbey. Subsequently, he co-founded (with Brian Friel, Stephen Rea and Tom Paulin) and was Director of the touring theatre company Field Day. His plays include The Death and Resurrection of Mr. Roche; The O'Neill; Tea and Sex and Shakespeare; Talbot's Box; The Seagull (adapted from Chekhov); Double Cross; The Madame MacAdam Traveling Theatre; and The Secret Fall of Constance Wilde.

The performance schedule is Tuesday – Saturday at 8:15 PM and Sunday at 3:15 PM. Tickets are $21  ($14.70 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.

Photo of Brian Murray by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.