Asolo Rep Adds MY BRILLIANT DIVORCE to 2012-13 Season

Asolo Repertory Theatre has announced the addition of My Brilliant Divorce to its 2012-2013 lineup. The one-woman comedy by Geraldine Aron will have its regional premiere at Asolo Rep from June 26-July 14 with preview performances June 23 & 25. My Brilliant Divorce will be directed by Asolo Rep Producing Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards.

“A script like My Brilliant Divorce comes along once in a lifetime,” said Edwards. “The whole notion that a divorce – probably one of the single most painful and traumatic experiences anyone can have in life – could actually be ‘brilliant,’ really intrigued me. The play is grounded in elements of a genuinely lived experience – though it’s not autobiographical – and the character’s ‘voice’ is very authentic. It deals with an emotional subject with humor and humanity.”

When asked how the play relates to Asolo Rep’s new American Character project, he added, “It’s important that she be American, that she’s an American ‘out of water’ – coping with London, with a British husband, with the reality that even her daughter is a little alien to her because her daughter’s more British than she is. The openness, the ease, the lack of guile in the British world is part of what it is to be an American, and at first it puts her at a disadvantage in coping with the charged emotional layers of complication in British life, but in the end it’s to her advantage. It’s her American character that pulls her through the experience.”

Set in present-day London, the story revolves around American expatriate Angela, a middle- aged woman who is blindsided by her British husband’s sudden decision to leave her. Adrift in a sea of bizarre dates, shifty lawyers, phone-in helplines and impending poverty, Angela somehow finds the strength to live anew and find what she needs most. Both intelligent and laugh-out-loud funny, this gem from across the pond is a highly entertaining exploration of divorce, dating and the search for love.

A native of Galway, Ireland, playwright Geraldine Aron spent her adult life in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Aron has written several award-winning plays for Ireland’s Druid Theatre Company, including Bar & Ger, A Galway Girl, Same Old Moon, The Donahue Sisters, The Stanley Parkers, Miracle Conway, and My Brilliant Divorce. She is also the author of twelve produced television and radio plays and two screenplays.

My Brilliant Divorce had its premiere in 2001 in Galway and was later transferred to London’s West End, where it was nominated for the 2004 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment. The play continues to be produced throughout the UK and Europe and was given its American premiere earlier this year at Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, NY.
My Brilliant Divorce will be added to the 2012-13 Asolo Rep schedule, which is now as follows:

1776
Music and Lyrics by Sherman Edwards Book by Peter Stone
NOVEMBER 16–DECEMBER 22

YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU
By Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman
JANUARY 4–APRIL 20

GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS
By David Mamet
JANUARY 11–FEBRUARY 28

THE HEIDI CHRONICLES
By Wendy Wasserstein
JANUARY 19–MARCH 17

CLYBOURNE PARK
By Bruce Norris
MARCH 15–MAY 2

THE GAME’S AFOOT
By Ken Ludwig
MARCH 29–MAY 12

Noah Racey’S PULSE, A NEW DANCE MUSICAL
A World Premiere, Conceived, Choreographed and Starring Noah Racey Directed by Jeff Calhoun
MAY 23-JUNE 16

MY BRILLIANT DIVORCE
By Geraldine Aron
JUNE 26-JULY 14

Subscriptions to Asolo Rep’s 2012-2013 season are currently on sale through the box office at 941-351-8000 or 800-361-8388. Single tickets will go on sale to the public online only on Sunday, September 30 and by phone and in person on Monday, October 1, 2012. Summer Box Office hours are 10am to 5pm Monday through Friday. For more information on the upcoming 2011-2012 season, visitwww.asolorep.org.