DANNY And The DEEP BLUE SEA Dives Under St. Marks Theatre in October

"Danny and the Deep Blue Sea" by John Patrick Shanley will be presented at Under St. Marks Theatre from October 18th through November 4th with Thursday through Sunday performances. Aimée Fortier directs. Mary Marxen is co-producer. The cast features Brian Patrick Murphy* and Lisa Fernandez*. *(Member of Actors Equity)

In a deserted bar in the Bronx, Danny, a 29 year old truck driver who likes to use his fists to settle self-perceived disputes, encounters Roberta, a 31 year old divorced mother who suffers terrible guilt from an incident involving her father which has made her mistrustful of men. Both are lonely, isolated and in desperate need of understanding. Danny offers Roberta some of his beer, and she comes over to where he is seated. During their conversation each reveals the anguish, anger and despair they share about their individual circumstances, taking unusual solace in the extremity of the other's emotions. Roberta invites Danny to spend the night with her, and his lack of comprehension brings out her tenderness. After a night together the hope for a meaningful relationship starts to surface for both of them until Roberta begins to doubt Danny's capability for change...as well as her own.

John Patrick Shanley's "Danny and the Deep Blue Sea" had its premiere at Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Fest in 1984 before opening the same year Off Broadway at Circle in the Square Downtown. John Turturro and June Stein assumed the roles of Danny and Roberta for both productions. Shanley described the play as an "Apache Dance", a violent dance between two people originated by Parisian Apaches or those considered to be ruffians or gangsters.

Brian Patrick Murphy is an actor and producer whose television work includes the recent Netflix series "Seven Seconds", the Emmy nominated series "Tainted Dreams" as well as "Billions", "VINYL" and "Law and Order SVU". On film he had supporting roles in "Occupy Texas", "Back in the Day" and played Anthony LaPaglia's younger version in "A Good Marriage". His stage work includes "The Clearing" directed by Josh Hecht which he produced and acted in at Theatre at St. Clements, "Two Gentlemen of Verona" at Bryant Park, "Italian American Reconciliation" at Barrow Group and "Orange Lemon Egg Canary" at PS 122.

Lisa Fernandez has been seen on stage in productions of "Brilliant Traces", "Sweet Bird of Youth", "Two Nobel Midsummer Nightsmen" and "The Haunting of Sleepy Hollow". As a voice over artist she's worked on commercials for CSU Global, Frank Stryker Productions and Charles Koppelman, among others. She's studied Meisner training with David Newer and movement with Ted Morin at William Esper Studio, vocal production with Patsy Rodenberg and Master Class with Larry Moss.

Aimée Fortier returns to director's chair after directing the new play Denmark this summer that was featured in Forbes. A lifelong actor, she's been seen in the TV series "Adultish", "Mr. Robot" and "Sonny with a Chance" as well as in numerous films.

"Danny and the Deep Blue Sea" begins on Thursday October 18th at Under St. Marks Theatre (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A) and runs Thursdays thru Saturdays at 7PM and Sundays at 2PM thru November 4th. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at https://dannyandthedeepbluesea.brownpapertickets.com/.Tickets go on sale September 30th.