Exit/Entrance at 59e59 from 10 Sep 2010

59E59 Theaters present the US premiere of Aidan Mathews' Exit/Entrance, as part of their 1st Irish festival.

Exit/Entrance: Charles, a retired classics professor, and his wife, Helen, are back in the apartment they shared for their entire married lives. They quietly reaffirm their deep affection for each other, the life they've shared, its delights and disappointments, as they toast their commitment.

In a similar apartment, a much younger couple unpacks from an exhilarating trip to Greece. They settle into an empty apartment, eager to begin their new life together. Over the course of the play, two quiet, intimate evenings unfold, where the lives of two couples are irrevocably changed.

Exit/Entrance premiered in the Peacock at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The Irish Times called the play, "one of the most challenging and satisfying evenings of pure theatre seen in years."

Produced by Origin Theatre Company and directed by M. Burke Walker, Exit/Entrance features Lara Hillier, Greg Mullavey, David L. Townsend and Linda Thorson.

Aidan Mathews (playwright) was born in 1956 and educated at UCD, TCD, and Stanford University. He has published three collections of poetry, 'Windfalls,' 'Minding Ruth' and 'According to the Small Hours; a book of stories, Adventures in a Bathyscope' (which was shortlisted for the GPA Award); and a novel, ;Muesli at Midnight.; In addition to Exit/Entrance his plays include 'The Diamond Body,' 'The Antigone' and a new version of 'The House of Bernarda Alba.'

M. Burke Walker (director) was the founder of Seattle's Empty Space Theatre, which he ran as Artistic Director from 1970 ­ 1990. In addition to his work at the Empty Space, he has directed at regional theaters across the country including Seattle Rep, ACT in San Francisco, Berkeley Rep and Syracuse Stage, among many others. Last year, he directed Origin Theatre Company's production of 'Spinning the Times,' which was part of 1st Irish at 59E59 Theaters. He is currently working on editing an anthology of American pulp melodramas from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.