Brits Off-Broadway 2007 at 59e59 Theatres

59e59 Theatres announce the 2007 lineup for their annual festival Brits off-Broadway. This year the festival presents 14 shows from Britian, including Intimate Exchanges, a cycle of 8 plays by the master of British farce Alan Ayckbourn.

The Brits Off-Broadway 2007 presents:

• The Receipt
  Playwright: Will Adamsdale and Chris Branch
  Produced by: Fuel Theatre
  Cast: Will Adamsdale and Chris Branch
  Synopsis: Meditation on the fate of the little man in the big 21st century city:
  A man. A city. A man in a city. Or near it. The outskirts. Zone F. That's not the point. A man. A city. A receipt. The man picks up the receipt; why, it's hard to say. It's rubbish. Something someone threw away. Or dropped. That's not the point.
  Venue: 59E59's Theater C
  Dates: 3 - 27 May
  
  
• Memory
  Playwright: Jonathan Lichtenstein
  Director: Terry Hands
  Produced by: Clwyd Theatr Cymru
  Cast: Ifan Huw Dafydd, Lee Haven-Jones, Daniel Hawksford, Christian McKay, Simon Nehan, Vivien Parry and Oliver Ryan.
  Synopsis: We are introduced to a group of actors in the rehearsal room with their director. They take us to East Berlin in 1990 just as the wall has come down. A young man arrives at the flat of his grandmother with awkward questions about the past. Meanwhile, a generation later, we witness events in Bethlehem as the Israeli security barrier is going up.
  Venue: 59E59's Theater A
  Dates: 5 - 27 May
  
  
• Silverland
  Playwright: Benjamin Davis
  Director: Di Trevis
  Produced by: Lacuna Theatre Company
  Cast: Cary Crankson, Sophie Hunter, Tom McClane, Tim Steed, Bradley Taylor and Ony Uhiara.
  Synopsis: Set in London, one year before the 2012 Olympic Games arrive and one year before the Kyoto Protocol agreement expires. Britain is near ruin due to global warming. With resources running dangerously low and a volatile and exaggerated climate teetering on the brink of chaos, six characters search for companionship in the face of inevitable change.
  Venue: 59E59's Theater B
  Dates: 15 May - 3 Jun
  
  
• Rosebud: The Lives of Orson Welles
  Playwright: Mark Jenkins
  Director: Josh Richards
  Produced by: Atomic80 Productions
  Cast: Christian McKay
  Synopsis: A solo show based on the life of Antonin Careme, the first celebrity chef, and follows his rise to become a chef for Napoleon, the Prince Regent, Tsar Alexander I and others.Revisits the glories of Welles' youth and his subsequent exile from Hollywood, telling the story of a man who started at the top and then worked his way down, having become the greatest director of the 20th century.
  Venue: 59E59's Theater C
  Dates: 29 May - 10 Jun
  
  
• Rabbit
  Playwright: Nina Raine
  Director: Nina Raine
  Produced by: Joanna Morgan Productions
  Cast: Ruth Everett, Adam James, Hilton McRae, Charlotte Randle, Alan Westaway and Susannah Wise.
  Synopsis: It is Bella's 29th Birthday. Friends and former lovers meet for a drink to celebrate. But as the Bloody Marys flow, the bar becomes a battlefield. In the uncivil and hilarious war between the sexes, what happens when the females have the real fire-power - stockpiles of testosterone, lethal wit and explosive attitude?
  Venue: 59E59's Theater B
  Dates: 5 Jun - 1 Jul
  
  
  
• Radio
  Playwright: Al Smith
  Director: James Yeatman
  Produced by: Kandinsky Theatre Company
  Cast: Tom Ferguson
  Synopsis: Set in the geographical center of the United States. Charlie Fairbanks, a farmer-turned-flagmaker's son who shoots for the Moon. The play is about memory, love and spaceships. It parallels a young man's coming of age with the birth and death of the space program, and explores the consequences of our losing sight of the Earth.
  Venue: 59E59's Theater C
  Dates: 12 Jun - 1 Jul
  
  

All eight plays have just two actors, Bill Champion and Claudia Elmhirst, who play all ten very different characters in the sequence. The plays are directed by Tim Luscombe and Alan Ayckbourn, with set design by Michael Holt and lighting by Ben Vickers, and are produced by Ayckbourn's Stephen Joseph Theatre.

• Intimate exchanges: Affairs in a Tent
  Synopsis: Celia finally breaks free! But how can she hope to succeed as an independent entrepreneur when her choice of business partner is the unstable Lionel Hepplewick and she launches their enterprise in the VIP tea tent at the school sports day under the skeptical eye of her husband, Toby. When there's a crisis with the sandwiches and mayhem in the mothers' race Miles secretly fears that all could end in madness.
  Venue: 59E59's Theater A
  Dates: Fri 1 Jun 8pm, Sun 3 Jun 3pm, Sat 16 Jun 2pm, Tue 19 Jun 8pm and Sun 1 Jul 7pm
  
  
• Intimate exchanges: Events on a Hotel Terrace
  Synopsis: Celia Teasdale doesn't have the best relationship with her husband headmaster, Toby. So when temptation presents itself in the form of virile, young school caretaker, Lionel Hepplewick, what is Celia to do? Perhaps a holiday with Toby to help restore the marriage? But Lionel is a man smitten by love. And a Hepplewick's passion, once aroused, knows no boundaries.
  Venue: 59E59's Theater A
  Dates: Thu 31 May 8pm, Sun 3 Jun 7pm, Tue 12 Jun 8pm, Sat 23 Jun 8pm and Sun 27 Jun 8pm
  
  
• Intimate exchanges: A Garden Fete
  Synopsis: Sometimes young Sylvie Bell feels that her whole life has been mapped out in advance. Marriage to Lionel Hepplewick, producing several children, never moving more than a few miles away, probably dying in the same house she was born in. Occasionally Sylvie dreams of bigger, more exciting things. All she needs is a little extra education. But is alcoholic headmaster Toby Teasdale the man to provide it for her?
  Venue: 59E59's Theater A
  Dates: Sat 9 Jun 8pm, Thu 14 Jun 8pm, Sun 24 Jun 3pm and Fri 29 Jun 8pm
  
  
• Intimate exchanges: A Pageant
  Synopsis: Sylvie Bell resolves to make a fresh start when stung by criticism from fiancé, Lionel. Out with the old, in with the new and Lionel is the first thing to go. The new starts with some self-improving private English Literature lessons from Toby. But Sylvie is caught in a tangle of marital repercussions. And Toby, struggling to stage the school's historical pageant, is caught between two warring Boadiceas, both intent on vengeance.
  Venue: 59E59's Theater A
  Dates: Fri 8 Jun 8pm, Sun 17 Jun 3pm, Thu 21 Jun 8pm and Sat 30 Jun 8pm
  
  
• Intimate exchanges: A Cricket Match
  Synopsis: United by unsatisfactory marriages Miles Coombes and Celia Teasdale embark on a secret affair. But they make a glumly mismatched couple. What's the point anyway when the whole village knows and Miles' wife Rowena isn't the least bit jealous. And there are dangers for Celia in carrying on with her husband Toby's best friend, particularly when they're both on the same cricket team. A 'friendly' match gets out of hand...
  Venue: 59E59's Theater A
  Dates: Wed 6 Jun 8pm, Sun 10 Jun 3pm, Fri 15 Jun 8pm, Sun 24 Jun 7pm, Thu 28 Jun 8pm
  
  
• Intimate exchanges: A Game of Golf
  Synopsis: Celia intends to stand by Toby when he decides to turn over a new leaf. But his healthy new life style involves spending all day on the golf course with his best friend Miles. Neither Celia nor Miles' wife Rowena take kindly to becoming 'golf widows'. Unfortunately they choose to hold their showdown on the golf course in the middle of the Ladies' International Friendly Match, igniting the fury of the England skipper.
  Venue: 59E59's Theater A
  Dates: Thu 7 Jun 8pm, Sun 17 Jun 7pm, Fri 22 Jun 8pm and Sat 30 Jun 2pm
  
  
• Intimate exchanges: A One Man Protest
  Synopsis: Flighty free spirit Rowena Coombes leads her poor husband Miles a terrible dance. Perhaps though, on reflection, choosing to barricade yourself inside your best friend Toby Teasdale's garden shed wasn't the best idea but then, this is an urgent cry for help. Unfortunately for Miles, his call is answered by not one but three very determined women.
  Venue: 59E59's Theater A
  Dates: Sat 2 Jun 8pm, Sun 10 Jun 7pm, Wed 13 Jun 8pm, Sat 23 Jun 2pm and Tue 26 Jun 8pm
  
  
• Intimate exchanges: Love in the Mist
  Synopsis: Miles feels middle age beckoning. Perhaps it's time to take the plunge, embark on a romantic adventure. After all, it seems his wife, Rowena is having romantic adventures with half the men in the village. Miles plans the holiday of a lifetime - all he needs is to share it with a sympathetic companion. But one man's dream can be another woman's nightmare.
  Venue: 59E59's Theater A
  Dates: Tue 5 Jun 8pm, Sat 16 Jun 8pm, Wed 20 Jun 8pm and Sun 1 Jul 3pm