New Dark Comedy APPENDAGE to Play Theater for the New City

From February 14 to 26, Theater for the New City will present the American premiere of "Appendage" by Irish expatriate writer Derek Murphy. The dark comedy is staged by Mary Tierney, founder of the legendary Quaigh Lunchtime Series, in her return to the director's chair.

"Appendage" begins with a minor traffic accident in which Jack is struck by Peter's car. Peter takes Jack, a stranger into his home to recuperate. Jack, in no hurry to leave Peter's wealthy American home, becomes more menacing as the evening and the alcohol progresses. Peter soon begins to fear for his life. As night takes hold, both men share the most intimate and profound of secrets, and so a strange tenuous bond develops between them, a bond that could easily spiral out of control. Both protagonists, as it turns out, are mourning the same woman. The play gradually reveals what a review in the Irish Theater Magazine called "the extraordinary, pent-up inadequacies of male coping mechanisms." The title reflects the author's view of both men in relationship to the woman they shared, as in something lesser attached to something greater.

Last year, the play was part of Origin's 1st Irish Next Generation Series, a development series in which carefully selected plays are seen for the first time in small workshop productions. This TNC production is a new and original work, built upon the drafts and workshops that Murphy has had presented over the last couple of years.
Playwright Derek Murphy is an Irish expatriate who grew up in Ballyfermot, a suburb on the south side of Dublin, and moved to New York in his twenties. He is author of several plays, including the comedy "A Couple of Chekovs" and "Looking for Sympathy," which were produced OOB in NYC, "Miles over Man," produced by Stray Dog Theatre Company in Belfast, and "A Short Wake," which premiered at the Derry Playhouse and was chosen as part of the First Irish Theatre Festival in New York City in 2009. It is a dark little comedy set in a New York funeral parlor, where two estranged brothers reunite at their father's wake. In 2012, an earlier draft of "Appendage" premiered at the MAC in Northern Ireland. The play was developed in part at Belfast's Lyric Theatre between the author and c21 Theatre Company. That same year, "Appendage" was a winner in the TRU Voices reading series in NYC. Murphy is also the author of "Stand Up Man," which premiered at Belfast's famed Baby Grand Opera House in 2014 and went on to a successful tour of Northen Ireland. It concerns a man who wanted desperately to be a priest but ends up becoming a comedian. His most recent play, "Inside Danny's Box," is currently in development in NY and was a finalist in the 2016 TRU Voices reading series. The Irish Times has referred to his writing as "slick, witty and subversive." He presently resides in Staten Island with his wife and two children.

Director Mary Tierney is returning to directing with this play. She founded, produced and directed the now-legendary Quaigh Theater Lunchtime Series in 1975, New York's first theater series devoted to plays for lunchtime audiences, which continued until 1982. She is proudest of directing Wiliam Hickey as Krapp in Samuel Beckett's "Krapp's Last Tape" in 1982. "Appendage" was introduced to her last year through her Tierney's TNC Theater Workshop, a free workshop in all theatrical disciplines that is funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies. She says, "I am extremely grateful to Crystal Field and everyone at Theater for the New City who go beyond the beyond in their efforts, and let me note my gratitude to Emily Pezella, Executive Assistant to Crystal Field, for her constant support."

Actor Nick Hardin (Peter) is an American actor who has been working throughout England, Ireland and the U.S. during the last 30 years. On TV, he has appeared in five productions of the BBC and two of RTÉ, Ireland's National Television and Radio Broadcaster. He has also appeared in over 15 films.

Actor Peter Welch (Jack) has appeared in "Law & Order," "Gossip Girl," "Fugitive Chronicles," "Talk to Me," "Blacklist," "To Kill A Mockingbird," "Great Kills (TNC, 2015), "True West," "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," "Equus," and numerous indie films and downtown Theater Productions. He is also a film director. His "The Piles Project," an experimental film, featured Art World superstars Mark Kostabi and Taylor Mead.

The set is designed is by Mark Marcante and built by Litza Colon. Lighting design is by Alexander Bartenieff. Costume design is by Everett Clark. Sound design is by Alex Tertullo. Dialect coach is Sarah Lafferty. Stage manager is Robert Neapolitan.

IF YOU GO:
APPENDAGE
February 14 to 26, 2017
Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave. (at E. 10th Street)
Schedule: Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8:00 PM, Sundays at 3:00 PM.
$15 general admission | Box office: (212) 254-1109, www.theaterforthenewcity.net
Reviewers are invited to all performances.

To post a comment, you must register and login.