Kirsten Vangsness and Tom Lenk Cross The Pond For Staged Reading of NIMROD

Bespoke Plays London, now in its second year as the UK branch of the celebrated Los Angeles theatre company, will bring a staged reading of Phinneas Kiyomura's NIMROD to The Union Theatre this September. Kirsten Vangsness ("Criminal Minds") crosses the pond to reprise her acclaimed role as the titular "Nimrod," joined by Tom Lenk ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"). Bespoke Plays London's Artistic Director, Mimi Collins, is set to direct. The staged reading of NIMROD takes place September 16th & 17th at 7:30pm at The Union Theatre in Southwark.

NIMROD is the meeting place between Julius Caesar and The Simpsons Movie. It explores the breakdown of language (the fact that we're speaking two languages) in this tendentious modern political age-this age of stupid lies, un-fake fake news, alternate facts and real bone chilling tragedy. NIMROD is a brute farce written in verse! that follows an imagined final year of an uncouth, bloviating, orange hued president's administration from the point of view of the beleaguered First Lady. It's a wild ride full of betrayals, unexpected violence, grand soliloquies (larded with even grander fart jokes).

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

Phinneas Kiyomura (Playwright) is a playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and skate punk from Long Beach, CA. His award winning plays have been produced at Bespoke Plays, Theatre of NOTE, Padua Playwrights, and Sacred Fools. He has written and produced for ABC, Freeform, Amazon, and most recently was a writer/producer on AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER for Netflix.

MIMI COLLINS (Director) brought Bespoke Plays to London in 2024 after getting her start as a writer and director at Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles, helming the comedy troupe, 'Sketched in Stone', and as a finalist for the Nickelodeon Writing Program. She has directed multiple short films and recently served as the Assistant Director for the UK tour of Stephen Leach's award-winning play, 'Can't Wait to Leave.'

ABOUT THE CAST

The cast of NIMROD features Kirsten Vangsness as "Nimrod." Kirsten plays tech analyst Penelope Garcia on "Criminal Minds: Evolution" streaming now on Paramount +, just days before now she wrapped filming season 19 of the long running crime drama where she has also co-written five episodes. Vangsness has been named as "one of TV's best scene stealers" by "Entertainment Weekly" and can also be seen as Bigelow McFigglehorn on Disney's 'Wizards Beyond Waverly Place" which is about to premiere its second season. In 2020 Kirsten wrote, starred, and directed the animated short 'Curtains' which can be found on Vimeo for free, no password needed. She is executive producer and star of the film noir spoof "Kill Me Deadly" and the creator and host of "Bits!", a monthly art salon in the heart of Hollywood. A Los Angeles theatre staple, Kirsten has most recently been seen onstage at the Los Angeles LGBT Center premiering her latest one person show, OUTDATED to sold out houses and rave reviews. In 2019, her last solo play "Mess" went to Edinburgh Fringe and was produced by Assembly Rooms along with her feminist, space romp musical "Cleo Theo and Wu". She is overjoyed to be reviving the titular character in Phinny Kiyomura's Nimrod here in London, to be able to start her London theatre journeys doing her Best Friend's play here is nothing short of magical. Kirsten has been published in the anthology "Women of Letters", the Los Angeles Times Magazine, and celebrated author Roxane Gay chose Kirsten as a "Feminist as Fuck" writer for the 2024 Vulture Fest. She is the recipient of the Open Fist Excellence in the Arts Award, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Natalie Schafer Award, the HRC Visibility Award and she has a monkey enclosure named after her at the Wildlife Learning Center.

Kirsten is joined by Tom Lenk, a SAG award winning actor whose stage and screen work include starring roles in "Palm Royale," "American Horror Stories," "Batwoman," "NCIS: Hawaii," "NCIS: NOLA," "Dead End: Paranormal Park," "Transparent," "HBO's Room 104," "Workin' Moms," "Bones," "Episodes," "The Witches of East End," "Cabin in the Woods," "Transformers," "Much Ado About Nothing," "Argo," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Buyer & Cellar (US Regional Theaters)," "Rock of Ages (Broadway)," and "Tilda Swinton Answers an Ad on Craigslist (LA, NYC, SF, London, Edinburgh Fringe)." He has performed his solo comedy shows around the globe with sold out stops at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Soho Theatre (London), Sketchfest (San Francisco), and Birdland Jazz (NYC).