The Eyes of Babylon, by Jeff Key, at 59e59

59E59 Theaters presents The Eyes of Babylon, written and performed by Jeff Key, with direction by Yuval Hadadi, as part of their Americas Off-Broadway Festival.

The show opens at 59e59's Theatre B on the 21 Jun 2011, following previews from 14 Jun, and runs through to 3 Jul 2011.

The Eyes of Babylon: U.S. Marine Jeff Key transforms his Iraq journal into a solo performance about going to war as a 34-year-old gay man at the heady start of the Iraq invasion. Launching with 9/11, traveling through the Iraqi desert and finally "coming out" on CNN, The Eyes of Babylon is a personal story of one marine's personal battle with the war, his country and himself. Bios:

Jeff Key (playwright/actor) is a former Marine, Iraq war veteran, peace activist and queer civil rights activist. He sits on the Board of Directors for Iraq Veterans Against the War and is the founding board member of The Mehadi Foundation, which provides support for returning veterans and develops philanthropic projects; specifically, clean water supplies and other basic necessities in Iraq and Afghanistan. Key is an award-winning playwright, performer and author of The Eyes of Babylon and two other plays in development. He is also the subject of the Showtime documentary 'Semper Fi. Key lives in Salt Lake' City with his husband, Adam, a second-year medical student at the University of Utah.

Born and raised in Israel, Yuval Hadadi (director) moved to NYC in 1993 and became Co-Artistic Director for the Absolute Theatre Company. Among his productions are 'King Lear' and 'The Taming of the Shrew' by William Shakespeare and 'Soil' by Charles Drew Jr., which had its world premiere at the Mint Theater. Hadadi also directed for The Habitual Theater Company, The House of Tribes in NYC, The Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT, as well as regional theater. In the '99-'00 season, he was Assistant Director at The Public Theater.