Grav is on the way to the Big Apple.
The Torch Theatre Company in Milford Haven has announce that Grav, its award-winning one man show about rugby legend and cultural icon Ray Gravell will be performing at an Off Off Broadway Theatre in New York in March 2018.
The scheduled dates of performances are Friday March 16, 7.30pm and Saturday March 17, 2.00pm & 7.30pm at the Actors Theatre Workshop in Manhattan, New York.
Grav received outstanding reviews; touring throughout Wales and performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2015. The play has been nominated for Best Actor, Best Writer, Best Director and won the Audience Award in the Wales Theatre Awards 2015.
Grav won a coveted Laurel Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, was also nominated for the Holden Street Theatre Award, an Arts & Business Cymru Award and a Canmol Wales Marketing Award.
Written by Owen Thomas, Grav the play has been written with the blessing of Mari, Ray’s widow, and contributions from his Welsh and British Lions team mates. Directed by the Torch Theatre’s Artistic Director Peter Doran and performed by Gareth John Bale, the show explores the life of a man who was as compelling away from the rugby field as he was on it.
There are strong Welsh links within New York city and the Torch will be working in conjunction with the Welsh restaurant Sunken Hundred, based in Brooklyn, where excerpts of the play will be recited in ‘An Evening of Welsh Rugby’ on Wednesday 14 March 7.00pm two days prior to the performance. Coincidentally, the owners of the Sunken Hundred restaurant, brothers Dominic and Illtyd Barrett are also from Milford Haven where the Torch Theatre is based.
Funding is needed to raise money for the cost of hiring the theatre Off Broadway, for marketing, ticketing costs, props and for the cost of hiring a technician. The Torch are looking for funders who would be willing to donate to their Crowd Funding page to help make this a reality.
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/grav-off-broadway/
Artistic Director Peter Doran says, “It would be fantastic to raise the profile of Wales in New York and that of the Torch Theatre Company. After our recent production of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ we hope that people appreciate we’re able to produce the same calibre of shows to be matched anywhere in the world.”
If you want to catch Grav before it heads stateside, there will be a mini-tour prior of the Torch Theatre’s award-winning production of the life of welsh rugby legend Ray Gravell consisting of the following dates:
Whether you’re a rugby fan or not, only the hardest of hearts would fail to enjoy this production.
❉ Grav mini-tour: Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, Thursday 22 February 7.45pm, Friday 23 February 7.45pm; Ffwrnes Theatre, Llanelli, Monday 5 March 7.45pm; Torch Theatre, Milford Haven, Thursday 8 March 7.45pm, Friday 9 March 7.45pm.
❉ Grav will run on Friday 16 March 7.30pm & Saturday 17 March 2.00pm & 7.30pm at Actors Theatre Workshop, 145 West 28th Street, 3F, New York, NY 10001.
❉ There will also be An Evening of Welsh Rugby at the Sunken Hundred restaurant in Brooklyn with excerpts of Grav being performed by Gareth John Bale during the evening on Wednesday 14 March from 7.00pm: Sunken Hundred, Cobble Hill, 276 Smith Street, Brooklyn, New York NY 11231. E-mail: info@sunkenhundred.nyc