| Dying City | Red Ryder Productions |
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Dying City is a sharply-written and transfixing tale of grief and love by American playwright Christopher Shinn. Set in the shadow of the Iraq war and the fall of The World Trade Centre, Dying City will have its West Australian premiere as part of The Blue Room REVEAL, 16 October – 1 November in The Blue Room Theatre.
“I wanted to explore what was happening in people's inner worlds during a time of trauma and war”, says Shinn “I wasn't satisfied with people’s surface denunciations of the war, or defenses of the war; I felt like the war had unleashed something internally that was painful and difficult for all sides to tolerate”.
One of The New York Times top ten plays of 2007, Dying City is set over two nights in a New York apartment. Peter’s twin brother Craig died serving in Iraq. A year later Peter seeks out his former sister-in-law, Kelly. If he’s hoping for comfort from her, he’s mistaken. As we jump between this reunion and Craig and Kelly’s final night together a year earlier, we learn that life and grief are never that simple.
“Anyone who doubts that Mr. Shinn is among the most provocative and probing of American playwrights today needs only experience the creepy, sophisticated welding of form and content that is Dying City” Ben Brantley, The New York Times
This work is a taut two-hander featuring Red Ryder Productions’ founding members Alison van Reeken and Benj D’Addario (playing the roles of Peter and Craig), under the intelligent direction of fellow company member Emily McLean (Best Director, 2006 and 2007 Equity Guild Awards for Red Ruders’ Dealers’ Choise and The Mozart Faction, respectively)
Dying City brings Red Ryder Productions back to The Blue Room after the success of “The Mozart Faction” which enjoyed a sold-out season and won the 2008 Members’ Choice Award.
“Dying City has a different beat to our previous shows which have been high energy, up-beat black comedies featuring large ensemble casts”, says Alison van Reeken. “With Dying City we take a risk and turn everything upside down. We go smaller; we change the focus, tighten the aperture and explore the space between the lines. We have chosen an intimate drama about a woman and man dealing with loss, as a global community deals with how easily it could be lied to, and how easily we have let the lie continue.”
The Blue Room and Red Ryder Productions present
Christopher Shinn’s
Dying City
Directed by Emily McLean
Venue: The Blue Room Theatre, 53 James St, Northbridge.
Season: 16 October – 1 November
Times: 8pm Tuesday – Saturday.
Bookings: 9227 7005 / www.blueroom.org.au
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