(via Bruce Cohen)
Baryshnikov Arts Center and Irish Arts Center present U.S. Premiere direct from The Young Vic and U.K Tour
The Corn Exchange In Association with Cusack Projects Limited
A Girl is a Half-formed Thing Written by Eimear McBride
Adapted for the stage and directed by Annie Ryan
Performed by Aoife Duffin Ten Performances
Only April 20 – 30
"One of the best stage adaptations of a novel you are likely to see" The Sunday Times
"Duffin is vulnerable and majestic with a mesmerizing rawness" Evening Standard
"This is shattering, unflinching, merciless theatre, painfully well made"
NEW YORK – Baryshnikov Arts Center and the Irish Arts Center join forces to present the U.S. premiere of A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, Annie Ryan's stark and courageous adaptation ofEimear McBride's award-winning novel, starring Aoife Duffin, for ten performances only, April 20 through April 30, atBaryshnikov Arts Center (BAC)'s Jerome Robbins Theater, 450 West 37th Street. Visit at: http://bacnyc.org/
One of Ireland's leading independent theater companies, The Corn Exchange, in association with Cusack Projects Limited, makes its New York debut with A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, a fearless, unflinching portrait of one girl's turbulent journey to overcome her traumatic childhood in Ireland. In a career-defining solo performance "with an intensity that sucks the air from your lungs," (Sunday Times) Aoife Duffin(Edinburgh Stage Award for Acting Excellence) portrays the inner narrative of a girl from womb to age twenty. Fraught family relationships, dangerous intimate liaisons, and dark moments of exploitation form a fascinating, fast-paced ride through a complex mind.
With biting wit and brilliant spark, Eimear McBride writes with a stream-of-consciousness urgency and honesty that "transposes effortlessly to the stage" (The Guardian UK). A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, the author's first novel, is steeped in the Irish legacy of Samuel Beckett and James Joyce and hailed "a future classic" by The New York Times in 2014.http://nyti.ms/Xvuj4a
"Brilliantly adapted" by director Annie Ryan (Sunday Times), A Girl is a Half-formed Thing was a sold-out hit of the 2014 Dublin Theatre Festival and 2015 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It is now (through March 26) astounding audiences at the Young Vic (http://www.youngvic.org/whats-on/a-girl-is-a-half-formed-thing).
Performance and Ticket Information Baryshnikov Arts Center and Irish Arts Center Present A Girl is a Half-formed Thing (U.S. Premiere) April 20-23 / Wednesday – Saturday at 8:00pm April 24 / Sunday at 3:00pm April 26 30 / Tuesday – Saturday at 8:00pm Baryshnikov Arts Center, Jerome Robbins Theater (450 W. 37thSt.) Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at bacnyc.org or 866 811 4111
About the Artists Eimear McBride grew up in Sligo and Mayo. At age seventeen, she moved to London to study acting at the Drama Centre. At age twenty-seven she wrote A Girl is a Half-formed Thing and spent most of the next decade trying to have it published. Eventually picked up by Galley Beggar Press, it went on to win the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, the Desmond Elliot Prize, Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year, and the inaugural Goldsmiths Prize. She is working on her second novel. The author reads an excerpt from her book:https://youtu.be/I-BAs9q7fEA.
Annie Ryan, originally from Chicago, trained as an actor at the Piven Theatre Workshop from age 12, and at age 18 became a member Chicago's Commedia company, New Crime. She received a BFA in Acting from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. These combined vocabularies formed the foundation of her work with The Corn Exchange, founded in 1995. Ryan has directed all of the company's productions to date, including modern classics, adaptations, and original works created in collaboration with writer Michael West.
Aoife Duffin trained at the Samuel Beckett Centre at Trinity College, Dublin. Theatre work has included Spring Awakening (Headlong);The Crucible (Lyric Theatre, Belfast); Christ Deliver Us!(Abbey Theatre, Dublin); The Silver Tassie (Druid); The Importance of Being Earnest and Solemn Mass for a Full Moon in the Summer (Rough Magic); The Crumb Trail and Oedipus Loves You (Pan Pan Theatre); and Little Gem (Gúna Nua). Her television work includes Moone Boy (Sky) and her film work has includes Earthbound (Ripplewood Pictures); Out of Here(Stalker Films); What Richard Did (Element Pictures); Behold the Lamb (Film Four); Joy (Venom Films); Fear of Flying(Animation); and When Harvey Met Bob (BBC). A clip from her performance is here:https://youtu.be/Z4tG-HHSAns.
The Corn Exchange has made some of the most groundbreaking theatre in Ireland. Founded by Annie Ryan in 1995, the company has created an award-winning repertoire, ranging from contemporary site-specific work, adaptations of classics and original theatre made in collaboration with the ensemble and writer Michael West. The company creates and presents stories reflecting contemporary Irish life through boom and bust. The work combines strong physical theatre practice with dynamic text and cutting-edge design and technology to create a highly imaginative, transformational theatre experience.http://www.cornexchange.ie/
Cusack Projects Limited is a company dedicated to international theatre producing working with a number of companies including the National Theatre of Great Britain, Canadian Stage, London's Royal Court, Corn Exchange, The Emergency Room, the Abbey Theatre Dublin and Wales Millennium Centre. Recent projects in the US include Not I/Footfalls/Rockaby (BAM), riverrun (BAM), One Man, Two Guvnors with James Corden (Broadway), The Pitmen Painters(MTC/Broadway), Phèdre with Helen Mirren (STC, Washington DC),Waves (Lincoln Center), Happy Days with Fiona Shaw (BAM), and The History Boys (Broadway).
About Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) BAC is the realization of a long-held vision by artistic director Mikhail Baryshnikov to build an arts center in Manhattan that would serve as a gathering place for artists from all disciplines. BAC's opening in 2005 heralded the launch of this mission, establishing a thriving creative laboratory and performance space for artists from around the world. BAC's activities encompass a robust residency program augmented by a range of professional services, including commissions of new work, as well as the presentation of performances by artists at varying stages of their careers. In tandem with its commitment to supporting artists, BAC is dedicated to building audiences for the arts by presenting contemporary, innovative work at affordable ticket prices. For more information visitwww.bacnyc.org.
About Irish Arts Center (IAC) Founded in 1972, Irish Arts Center is a New York based arts and cultural center dedicated to projecting a dynamic image of Ireland and Irish America for the 21st century, building community with artists and audiences of all backgrounds, forging and strengthening cross-cultural partnerships, and preserving the evolving stories and traditions of Irish culture for generations to come. Our multi-disciplinary programming is centered around three core areas: Performance including live music, dance, theatre, film, literature, and the humanities; Exhibition including visual arts presentations and cultural exhibitions that tell the evolving Irish story; and Education with dozens of classes per week in Irish language, history, music, and dance. Located in New York City, a global capital of arts and culture, Irish Arts Center serves as a dynamic platform for top emerging and established artists and cultural creators to reach a New York, national, and global audience, and as a gateway for other institutions to access first-rate Irish and Irish American culture. Irish Arts Center is currently developing plans to construct a new facility to serve our multidisciplinary program. The New Irish Arts Center will contain a 199-seat theatre, an 85-seat intimate café venue; studio spaces for classes, rehearsals and the development of new work; technology capability to project Irish Arts Center on the digital platform and a social environment for meetings, collaboration and conversation before and after the show. For more information on the New Irish Arts Center, or to support our campaign, Almost Home, please visitwww.irishartscenter.org.