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THE ACCIDENTAL PATRIOT: THE LAMENTABLE TRAGEDY OF THE PIRATE DESMOND CONNELLY, IRISH BY BIRTH, ENGLISH BY BLOOD, AND AMERICAN BY INCLINATION
Previews begin April 25

"One of NYC's most remarkable and accomplished young companies" - nytheatre.com

The Stolen Chair Theatre Company continues its CineTheatre Tetrology (4 years, 4 productions, 4 classic film styles adapted for the stage) with the World Premiere of Kiran Rikhye's swashbuckling adventure THE ACCIDENTAL PATRIOT: THE LAMENTABLE TRAGEDY OF THE PIRATE DESMOND CONNELLY, IRISH BY BIRTH, ENGLISH BY BLOOD, AND AMERICAN BY INCLINATION. Directed by Jon Stancato, previews begin April 25 at the Milagro Theatre. Opening night set for May 1.

THE ACCIDENTAL PATRIOT... is what Sophocles might have written it if he'd been under contract to Warner Brothers. This original 1930s-style swashbuckler is set against the tumultuous backdrop of the American Revolution. Mashing together Greek tragedy and Errol Flynn-era pirate films, it features both rapier duels and rapier wit as it satirizes heroism, patriotism, altruism, and all of the other "-isms" that move us to action. British privateer Desmond Connelly takes up the colonists' cause when a British admiral murders his best friend, a Bostonian patriot. He abandons his post to become a pirate, seeking his vengeance and sailing towards the destiny that will reveal his mysterious parentage.

The production stars David Bengali, Tommy Dickie, David Berent, Cameron J. Oro, Sarah Stephens, and Liza Wade White with sets and lighting by David Bengali and costumes by Julie Schworm, fights (and live naval battles!) choreographed by Barbara Seifert, and live music by Raphael Biran and Emily Otto. The show features a cast of nearly two dozen, including a chorus of patriots-cum-pirates whose tragic odes are set to colonial sea shanties and drinking songs. The production was made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Chosen as "Best of Manhattan 2007" by New York Press, The Stolen Chair Theatre Company is a critically-acclaimed award-winning collaborative theatre laboratory dedicated to theft, recycling and re-examination of historical performance styles, creating visually stunning and uniquely contemporary work where the earnest and ironic happily co-exist. Since its inception in 2002, Stolen Chair has created 11 critically acclaimed original works including the absurdist noir play Kill Me Like You Mean It (CineTheatre #2), the masked farce Commedia dell' Artemisia, and Kinderspiel, the totally fabricated true story of a kinky Weimar cabaret. Their 2005 silent film for the stage (CineTheatre #1) was published in the anthology Playing With Canons: Explosive New Works from Great Literature by America's Indie Playwrights.

THE ACCIDENTAL PATRIOT: THE LAMENTABLE TRAGEDY OF THE PIRATE DESMOND CONNELLY, IRISH BY BIRTH, ENGLISH BY BLOOD, AND AMERICAN BY INCLINATION runs April 25 - May 17, Thursday - Saturday at 8pm, with 2pm matinees on April 27 & May 11. The Milagro Theater is located in the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center at 107 Suffolk Street between Delancey and Rivington Streets (accessible from the J,M,Z, & F at Delancey/Essex). Tickets are $18, available at 212-868-4444 or theaccidentalpatriot.us