Marie Jones' FLY ME TO THE MOON Makes NY Premiere at 59E59 Theaters Tonight, 9/5

59E59 Theaters hosts the NY premiere of FLY ME TO THE MOON, written and directed by Marie Jones. Produced by Green Shoot Productions and part of 1st Irish at 59E59 Theaters, FLY ME TO THE MOON begins performances tonight, September 5 for a limited engagement through Sunday, September 30. Press opening is Wednesday, September 12 at 7:15 PM.

The performance schedule is Tuesday – Thursday at 7:15 PM; Friday at 8:15 PM; Saturday at 2:15 PM and 8:15 PM; and Sunday at 3:15 PM and 7:15 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.

Community care workers Francis and Loretta look after Davy, a lonely old man whose greatest loves are Frank Sinatra and the races. When Davy dies on the day his horse finally comes in, his two cash-strapped carers are faced with a mouth-watering dilemma. Just how far they will go to make ends meet? This outrageous new dark comedy from Northern Ireland’s premiere playwright Marie Jones (Stones In His Pockets) is a timely tale of two women struggling in a tough economic climate.

The cast features Tara Lynne O’Neill (the film adaptation of Disco Pigs) and Katie Tumelty (The Billy Trilogy and Remembrance at Arts Theatre Belfast and Irish Tour). The production designer is Niall Rea.

Marie Jones (playwright/director). Born in Belfast, Marie was writer-in-residence for Charabanc Theatre Company from 1983 to 1990. Her plays have toured extensively throughout the world, including the former Soviet Union, Germany, coast to coast in America, Canada, Britain and Ireland. Her plays include an adaptation of Gogol’s The Government Inspector, which toured in Britain and Ireland; A Night in November (London, Glasgow, New York and three tours of Ireland); Women on the Verge of HRT (Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow and London’s Vaudeville Theatre); and Stones in His Pockets, which toured Ireland prior to the Dublin Theatre Festival and its West End and Broadway debut in 2000. It garnered many awards including the Lawrence Olivier Award, The Evening Standard Award and three Tony Award nominations for Best New Play.

Other dramas include Lay Up Your Ends co-written with Martin Lynch; Somewhere Over the Balcony; The Hamster Wheel; The Blind Fiddler; Wedding, Weens and Wakes; Christmas Eve Can Kill You; Ethel Workman Is Innocent; Rock Doves; and Dancing Shoes - The George Best Story. The New York premiere of her newest play FLY ME TO THE MOON arrives after a critically acclaimed tour of cities in Scotland and England by Paines Plough and in North Ireland.

Marie’s drama work for BBC Radio Four includes The Hamster Wheel; Christmas Eve Can Kill You; Wedding, Weens and Wakes; and The Blind Fiddler. Her writing for BBC TV includes a three-part drama series Tribes and The Hamster Wheel and, for Channel Four, Wingnut and the Sprog.

As an actress, Marie has performed in most of the major theaters of Ireland and the UK. Marie’s television acting credits include Life After Life, You, Me and Marley and Space Oddity. Her work in film includes Hush-a-Bye Baby, Middletown and the role of Sarah Conlon in In the Name of the Father. She has been awarded two honorary doctorates of literature and an OBE.

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