U.S. Premiere of Caryl Churchill's ESCAPED ALONE Heads to BAM Tonight

BAM presents the acclaimed Royal Court Theatre production of Caryl Churchill's Escaped Alone in its US premiere, running tonight, February 15, through February 26, 2017 at the BAM Harvey Theater (651 Fulton St). Tickets start at $30.

With Escaped Alone - a Royal Court Theatre production directed by James MacDonald - acclaimed British playwright Caryl Churchill creates a comically black look at catastrophe. Four richly drawn women chat in a sunny backyard, interrupted by reports of bizarre disasters. Churchill's portrayal of the women, played by Linda Bassett (Mrs. Jarrett), Deborah Findlay (Sally), Kika Markham (Lena), and June Watson (Vi), is infused with warmth and dry humor contrasted with apocalyptic devastation.

This powerful, hour-long drama is the latest play from Caryl Churchill, the celebrated writer whose work includes The Skriker; Light Shining in Buckinghamshire; A Number; Far Away; Blue Heart (BAM 1999 Spring Season); Serious Money; Top Girls; and Cloud Nine.

Escaped Alone premiered at the Royal Court in January 2016. It will return to the Royal Court, London, in January 2017, with further UK tour dates in March 2017 following the BAM engagement.

The production features design by award-winning Miriam Buether, lighting by Olivier Award-winner Peter Mumford, and sound by Tony Award-winner Christopher Shutt.

It reunites Churchill and director James MacDonald, whose previous work together has included Cloud Nine, Drunk Enough to Say I Love You, and Love and Information. Macdonald was Associate Director at the Royal Court from 1992-2007 and directed the Abbey Theatre production of John Gabriel Borkman at BAM (2011 Spring Season). His recent work includes The Father (Theatre Royal Bath, Tricycle, and West End), Exiles (National Theatre), Glengarry Glen Ross (West End), and The Children (Royal Court). For the Royal Court, Macdonald also previously directed The Wolf from the Door, Circle Mirror Transformation, Cock, Blasted, and the European and US tours of Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis.

The Royal Court Theatre is the writers' theater. It is a leading force in world theater for energetically cultivating writers-undiscovered, emerging, and established. Through the writers, the Royal Court is at the forefront of creating restless, alert, provocative theater about now. Over 120,000 people visit the Royal Court in Sloane Square, London each year, and many thousands more see its work elsewhere through transfers to the West End and New York, UK and international tours, digital platforms, residencies across London, and site-specific work. Within the past 60 years, John Osborne, Samuel Beckett, Arnold Wesker, Ann Jellicoe, Howard Brenton, and David Hare have started their careers at the Royal Court. Many others, including Caryl Churchill, Athol Fugard, Mark Ravenhill, Simon Stephens, debbie tucker green, Sarah Kane and, more recently, Lucy Kirkwood, Nick Payne, Penelope Skinner, and Alastair McDowall, have followed. Today, Royal Court plays from every decade are performed on stage and taught in classrooms and universities across the globe.

For ticket information, call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, or visit BAM.org.

Photo Credit: Johan Persson