YEAR OF THE ROOSTER Returns to Ensemble Studio Theatre, 1/9

Year of the Rooster by a 25-year-old Youngblood playwright Eric Dufault, directed by John Giampietro and featuring Denny Dale Bess, Delphi Harrington, Thomas Lyons, Bobby Moreno, and Megan Tusing playing characters both human and/or animal, will return to the Ensemble Studio Theatre, 549 West 52nd Street, Thursday, January 9, for a four-week run through February 2, Artistic Director William Carden announced.

Year of the Rooster opened October 24 to critical raves and over-the-top audience response. The New York Times made it a "Critic's Pick", saying "...it isn't merely entertaining. It's astonishingly entertaining." The month-long run sold out long before its original November 24 closing date.

Year of the Rooster is a comic, mythic elevation of the gritty subculture of American cockfighting that opened the Ensemble Studio Theatre's 46th season in October.

Eric Dufault developed the play in the Ensemble Studio Theatre's Youngblood program for playwrights under 30-years of age. "Eric Dufault is a daring, original voice writing in a comic, mythic and scintillating vein. He takes us into the peculiar sub-culture of c*ckfighting and finds in that fierce and funny world dark resonances of ambition, winning and losing that reach us all. We knew then this was a voice to be heard," said Mr. Carden.

Year of the Rooster is a combination of lowbrow, foul-mouthed humor and hyper-articulate references to Greek myths and legends. The play centers on the regularly ridiculed Gil (Thomas Lyons) who now, with his new rooster, a fearsome killing machine named Odysseus Rex (Bobby Moreno), is experiencing things he's never had in his life -- hope, victory, and revenge.

Eric Dufault is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College. His plays include The Tomb of King Tot, American Girls, and The Desert Play. His plays have been performed at the Ensemble Studio Theatre/Youngblood as part of their 34th Annual Marathon of One Act Plays and Unfiltered series. Additionally, his work has been performed at the Flea Theatre, the 52nd Street Project, the Magnet Theatre, the Lark Play Development Center, and the Great Plains Theatre Conference. He is the recipient of a 2013 Sloan Commission, the 2010 Lipkin Playwriting Award, and the 2008, 2009, and 2010 Harle Adair Damann Playwriting Award. His play Something Fine will be published in the Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2014 anthology. He is a member of the Obie award-winning Youngblood Playwriting Group at the Ensemble Studio Theatre.

Scenery is by Alexis Distler, lighting by Greg MacPherson, sound by Shane Rettig, and costumes by Sydney Maresca. Fight Director is Qui Nguyen and the production stage manager is Eileen Lalley

Year of the Rooster returns Thursday, January 9, at 7:00pm and performs Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 7:00pm and Mondays at 7:00pm. Matinees are Saturdays at 2:00pm and Sundays at 5:00pm. The final performance is February 2.

All seats are $40 except for tickets purchased before the ball drops in Times Square (December 31, 2013), which are priced at $20. To order tickets call 866.811.4111 or click www.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/134.

Photo by Russ Kuhner

Need more Off-Broadway Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Spring season, discounts & more...