Absolution, by Owen O’Neill, at 59E59

59E59 Theaters present the US premiere of Absolution, written and performed by Owen O'Neill and directed by Rachel O'Riordan, as part of their 1st Irish festival.

In his black comedy Absolution, Owen O'Neill explores the innermost thoughts of a vicious serial killer.

Petey has brutally murdered five Catholic priests, castrating and beheading some. Is he an avenging angel on a divine mission or a mass murderer? Find out why and ask yourselves... was he right?

With brutally clinical accounts of his victims, Absolution is a challenging, often shocking, and captivating tale of a man who has taken upon himself the sins of so many, and has unleashed on them a terrible vengeance.

Written and performed by Owen O'Neill, a Perrier Award-winning comic, Absolution premiered at the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe to great acclaim. The Times called it "grimly riveting." Joyce McMillan, writing in The Scotsman, said, "O'Neill's text has a driving narrative energy so fierce it almost smells of burning flesh."

Absolution comes to 59E59 Theaters and the annual 1st Irish Festival from Dublin-based theater company, Gúna Nua, who were seen in New York earlier this year with the Best of Edinburgh Award-winning production of 'Little Gem' at The Flea Theatre.

Owen O'Neill (playwright/ performer) is a Perrier Award-winning stand-up comic, poet, actor and playwright. A stand up comic since 1986, he is a regular headlining act playing all Absolution is the seventh production for theatre that he has written and performed. He has also written critically acclaimed drama and comedy series for television (BBC, CH4 and Granada), including 'The Fitz.' His other plays include 'Finding Mick Jagger,' 'It Was Henry Fonda's Fault,' 'My Son The Footballer!,' 'No Place Like Home,' 'Owen O'Neill is a ***t and so is Seamus Heaney,' 'Shouting From The Scaffold' and the semi- autobiographical 'Off My Face,' winner of the LWT Comedy Writing Award at the Edinburgh Festival (1997). His play 'Patrick's Day,' co- written with Sean Hughes, won the Edinburgh Critics' Award for Best Comedy (1991).

Rachel O' Riordan (director) returns to 59E59 Theaters after directing the critically acclaimed 'Hurricane' at the inaugural Brits Off Broadway in 2004.