xx HOME is a trading name of Greater Manchester Arts Ltd a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales No: 1681278 Registered office 2 Tony Wilson Place Manchester M15 4FN. Charity No: 514719 PRESS RELEASE 19 Mar 2018 Photo by Lucy Ridges HOME to stage the Northern Premiere of Jesus Hopped The A Train, directed by multi-award winning Jake Murray Wed 16 - Sat 19 May 2018 Press night Weds 16 May HOME is delighted to announce the Northern Premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning, acclaimed American playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis Jesus Hopped The A Train. Directed by Jake Murray, who makes a welcome return to his hometown of Manchester with his very own Elysium Theatre Company, this production marks the play s regional premiere and the first time Guirgis has been performed in Manchester.
Angel Cruz is standing trial for shooting the Reverend Kim in the ass; Reverend Kim later died. Lucius Jenkins is on appeal, trying to avoid the death penalty for the murder of eight people. For one hour each day, both men share adjacent cages on Rikers Island, New York s top security prison. Then one day they get talking. Jesus Hopped The A Train premiered in New York at LAByrinth TC in 2000, in a production directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman. It then transferred to the Donmar Warehouse in London in 2002 where it was nominated for an Olivier Award. Since, it has been revived in London only once at the Trafalgar Studios in 2010. It is a funny, powerful, adrenaline-fuelled drama of good and evil, penalty and redemption, by one of America s most exciting and admired new writers - Stephen Adly Guirgis. He is the recipient of a number of awards including a Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in May 2016; the Pulitzer Prize, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a New York Drama Critics Circle Award and a Lucille Lortel Award (all for Between Riverside And Crazy in 2015). Multi-award winning director Jake Murray is no stranger to Manchester, having spent seven years at the Royal Exchange Theatre, progressing from Michael Elliott Foundation Bursary Trainee Director to Associate Artistic Director before leaving to go freelance. He was co-artistic director with Sarah Frankcom of the Exchange Studio, during which time the space was nominated for a Peter Brook Empty Space Award. Days Of Wine And Roses and Jesus Hopped The A Train see his return to the city in which he grew up and worked. His production of Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Exchange in 2005 starring the young Andrew Garfield, Gugu Mbatha-Raw & Andrew Buchan broke records for first time viewers and young audiences. His production of Tom Murphy s A Whistle In The Dark in 2006 transferred from the Exchange to the Tricycle Theatre in London, swept the board with rave reviews from the critics and was the Evening
Standard s and Time Out Critics Choice for several weeks. He has worked all over the UK as a freelance director, and set up Elysium Theatre Company in 2016. Elysium is dedicated to bringing the best new plays and world theatre to the North. Founded by Jake, northern actor Danny Solomon and actress/ producer Hannah Ellis Ryan, the company is currently Company In Residence at the Assembly Rooms, Durham. Their debut production of Owen McCafferty s Days Of Wine And Roses, played at the Assembly Rooms in Durham and 53two Manchester last year to great critical acclaim earning its lead actor, Danny Solomon, a nomination for Best Fringe Performance at this year s Manchester Theatre Awards. Danny returns with Elysium to Manchester this year, performing the role of Angel Cruz in Jesus Hopped The A Train. Danny is joined in the cast by Alice Frankham as Mary Jane Hanrahan, Faz Singhateh as Lucius Jenkins, Garth Williams as Charlie D Amico and Alistair Gillies as Valdez. Walter Meierjohann, Artistic Director: Theatre, HOME, said: We are very pleased to present another Northern premiere of a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, continuing HOME's relationship with the best of contemporary American drama. I look forward to seeing Stephen Adly Guirgis high energy, bold, political and darkly comic play in our T2 space, and I am delighted to welcome Jake Murray and the Elysium theatre company to HOME. - ends @home_mcr @ElysiumTc #jesushopped PERFORMANCE CALENDAR Wed 16 May 2018-19:45 PRESS NIGHT Thu 17 May 19.45 Fri 18 May 19.45
Sat19 May 19.45 TICKETS Tickets 12.50-10 (concessions available) PRESS NIGHT PERFORMANCE Weds 16 May 2018-19:45 For further information - to request review tickets, images or interviews, please contact: Rachel Furst, Freelance PR on +44 (0)7957 457668, or rachelfurstcomms@gmail.com Elisa Ruff, Senior Media and Communications Manager, +44 (0)161 212 3461, or elisa.ruff@homemcr.org FUNDED BY: FOUNDING SUPPORTERS: OFFICIAL HOTEL PARTNER: NOTES TO EDITORS HOME, Manchester s centre for international contemporary art, theatre, film and books, officially opened its doors over the 2015 May Bank Holiday weekend. Designed by Dutch architects Mecanoo and featuring a 500-seat theatre; a 150-seat flexible theatre; a 500m2, 4m high gallery space; five cinema screens; digital production and broadcast facilities; a café bar and restaurant. HOME's theatres are a platform for questioning and ambitious artistic projects that involve audiences with new and extraordinary theatrical experiences. The international
contemporary visual art programme is dedicated to presenting new commissions by emerging and established artists of regional, national and international significance, with a bold, proactive policy of visual, innovative storytelling with the ability to experiment and explore, probe and provoke, creating a distinct experience for both artists and audiences. HOME's five cinemas showcase the very best in contemporary and classic cinema, screening works by artists and filmmakers both established and new. HOME is a centre for co-production, talent development and artistic creation, dedicated to learning, for people of all ages. A place for new work and playful ideas; of festivals and commissions; of artists and of audience engagement. The patrons of HOME are Danny Boyle, former National Theatre Artistic Director Nicholas Hytner, actress Suranne Jones, playwright and poet Jackie Kay MBE, artists Rosa Barba and Phil Collins, filmmaker Asif Kapadia, and actress and author Meera Syal CBE. After Circle Mirror Transformation, HOME s theatres stage Extraordinary Rendition (7-9 Mar 2018), Slap Talk (10 Mar 2018), The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk (3-7 Apr 2018), Minefield (12-14 Apr 2018), The Tiger Lillies: Corrido De La Sangre (20 Apr - 5 May 2018), Things Easily Forgotten (25-28 Apr 2018), Dollywould (3-5 May 2018), Long Day s Journey Into Night (10-26 May 2018), Jesus Hopped the A Train (16-19 May 2018), Scottee: Fat Blokes (22-24 May 2018), The Duke (6/7 June 2018), Me & Robin Hood: Change the Story (8/9 June 2018), Diamond (11-13 June 2018), The Drill (14-16 June 2018), The Fishermen (20-28 July 2018), o t h e l l o m a c b e t h (14-29 Sept 2018), Släpstick (13-22 Dec 2018), and White (13-23 Dec 2018). www.homemcr.org @HOME_mcr Did you know that HOME is a charity? We need your support to bring the best film, theatre and art to Manchester and inspire the next generation. Get involved at www.homemcr.org/support