Double Olivier Award winner Ruth Wilson will star in and co-direct the world premiere of Eugene O’Neill’s triple bill The El. Train in a decadent theatrical event combining “hard liquor and live music” this December.
The immersive production, which plays at the intimate Hoxton Hall for a limited four week season from 6 to 30 December, will mark the first time O’Neill’s three one-act plays tackling the epic themes of sin and redemption, and heaven and hell, have ever been performed together and transform the space into a New York tenement block complete with exposed brickwork, iron fire escapes and El. Train tracks.
Featuring live original music, the atmospheric triple bill was written by the legendary American dramatist when he was in his 20s and comprises The Web and Before Breakfast, which will be directed by Sam Yates and star Wilson, and The Dreamy Kid, which marks the stage and screen star’s directorial debut.
Following the performances intrepid audiences will be invited backstage to discover Found Productions’ decadent pop-up bar, the Hell Hole Saloon. Designed by the production’s creative team Richard Kent and Neil Austin, audiences will find themselves transported back to the turn of the 20th century, with period cocktails and live music on offer.
While the exciting project’s co-director Yates is a regular on the fringe, Wilson is best known for her many critically acclaimed starring roles in the West End. Earning Olivier Awards for her much-lauded performances in the Donmar Warehouse’s Anna Christie and A Streetcar Named Desire, Wilson’s other stage credits include Philistines at the National Theatre and Through A Glass Darkly at the Almeida theatre. Also a familiar face on screen, the actress boasts starring television roles in Luther and Jane Eyre, and film appearances alongside Johnny Depp in The Lone Ranger and the forthcoming Disney film Saving Mr Banks.
Visit www.theeltrain.com to begin your journey into O’Neill’s intoxicating world.