The Left Wing, In Association With John Turturro, Presents Brandon Cole's IMPERFECT LOVE
by Stephi Wild Dec. 14, 2017
The Left Wing, in association with John Turturro, presents the world premiere production of Brandon Cole's Imperfect Love, a serious comedy in two acts. Directed by Michael Di Jiacomo, Imperfect Love is inspired by the tumultuous life of the great Italian actress Eleonora Duse (1858-1924) and her nine-year love affair with the poet and playwright Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863-1938). The production, which runs January 24-February 18, 2018, at The Connelly Theater, features costume and set design by the Academy Award-winning Italian designer Gianni Quaranta (Merchant-Ivory's A Room with a View, Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet) and is scheduled to open on February 4. Turturro's 1998 film, Illuminata, which was co-written by Cole and Turturro, was based on Cole's Imperfect Love.
A story of love and betrayal set just over 100 years ago, Imperfect Love centers on the volatile relationship between leading actress Eleonora Della Rosa and her playwright lover Gabriele Torrisi. They, along with a classically trained actor (Domenica) and two Comedia dell'Arte clowns (Beppo and Marco), are artists at the crossroads of a theatrical epoch. As they work diligently to salvage their current production, the troupe grapples with changing times and evolving tastes as the psychological realism of Ibsen and Strindberg grow in popularity. In the end, matters of theater and matters of the heart come together to a climax both affirming and bitter-sweet. The play's the thing. At least, until the curtain falls.
The cast for Imperfect Love includes Cristina Spina (Martha Clarke's Kaos), Rodrigo Lopresti, Aidan Redmond (The Cripple of Inishmaan), Ed Malone (Irish Repertory Theatre), and David O'Hara.
In addition to set and costume designer Gianni Quaranta, the creative team includes Jon DeGaetano (lights) and Lawrence Schober (production stage manager).
Imperfect Love was first presented in 2000 with a cast that included Peter Dinklage. Since that time, the play has been reconceived and significantly re-written for this world premiere production at The Connelly Theater.
Performances of Imperfect Love will take place runs January 24-February 18 (see schedule above) at The Connelly Theater, located at 220 E 4th Street in Manhattan. Critics are welcome as of Wednesday, January 31 for an opening on Sunday, February 4 at 8pm. Tickets, priced at $49 general/$25 student and rush, can be purchased by visiting imperfectlove.net or by calling 800-838-3006.
Brandon Cole (playwright) is an established playwright and director. Born in Chicago and raised in New York, he co-wrote the Cannes Camera d'Or winner Mac with John Turturro. He has written a dozen theatrical productions which have been performed worldwide, including Nothing Works; as well as the feature films OK Garage, Divine Mercy and Pete Smalls is Dead.
Michael Di Jiacomo (director) is a director and writer living in New York City. He started his career working with MacArthur Genius Award-winning dance theater and opera director Martha Clarke. His first feature film, Animals, starred Tim Roth, John Turturro, and Rod Steiger. His second feature, Somewhere Tonight, starring John Turturro, premiered at Karlovy Vary and won awards in Europe and the US. In the fall of 2015 his play, The Man Who Isn't There, had a critically acclaimed four-month run in Holland and starred Johanna ter Steege.
Gianni Quaranta(sets & costumes) is an Academy Award-winning Italian production designer and art director who has worked with Bernardo Bertolucci (1900); Franco Zeffirelli (Romeo and Juliet), and Paul Schrader (The Comfort of Strangers). He was given an Academy Award for his work with Merchant-Ivory on A Room with a View. He has also won numerous awards for his set design in opera, both internationally and in his native Italy.
Cristina Spina (Eleonora Della Rosa) was born in Rimini, Italy. She studied classic and contemporary dance at the school of Liliana Cosi and attended the Academy of Dramatic Arts Silvio D'Amico. She received a Masters of worked in classical theater including Sophocles (Oedipus Rex) and Shakespeare (A Midsummer Night's Dream and Measure for Measure) and the best actress award for the role of Cassandra in The Trojan Woman at the Greek Theatre in Syracuse, Sicily in 2006. Spina made her American debut in Martha Clarke's Kaos, which included text by Frank Pugliese, at the New York Theatre Workshop. Spina lives and works between Rome and New York.
Aidan Redmond (Domenica) is best known for I Sell the Dead (2008), Daylight (2010) and '79 Parts (2016). He appeared in the Off-Broadway production of Wife To James Whelan by Teresa Deevy at the Mint Theater, played Laius/Laurence/Langos in A Particle of Dread (Oedipus Variations) by Sam Shepard at the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theater, and Dr. McSharry in The Cripple of Inishmaan at the Cort Theater on Broadway.
Rodrigo Lopresti (Gabriele Torrisi) was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and grew up in Miami, Florida. He became the singer and guitar player of the surf-punk band Garlands Room in 1994. He has acted in several movies, including Delirious and The Imperialists Are Still Alive! Lopresti won a 2006 Best Short Film Award at the Charlotte Film Festival for his film Lucia, which he directed and played the lead role. He also directed and starred in the short film You're Gonna Feel Funny After.
Ed Malone (Marco) is a playwright, director, actor, clown and buffoon who was born and raised in Cork City, Ireland. He graduated from L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq and the celebrated clown school of Phillppe Gaulier in Paris, before moving to New York in 2007. He is also a Member of the Dramatists Guild. He has appeared in at the Irish Repertory Theater in New York, Theater for a New Audience, and has given several solo performances at Stage Left. His solo play The Three Irish Widows Versus The Rest of the World received three sold-out runs in New York City in 2010. For television, Malone recently co-starred in Lipstick Jungle on NBC.
David O'Hara (Beppo) played the role of Jerry Devine in the Irish Repertory Theatres critically acclaimed production of Juno and the Paycock. He trained at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York City with the tutelage of David Mamet and Giancarlo Esposito et al.
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