FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 24, 2007

Lantern Theater Company is proud to announce the extension of Martin McDonagh's savagely funny comedy The Lonesome West for five additional performances through October 14, 2007. In the tiny Irish backwater of Leenane, warring brothers Valene and Coleman live to torment each other, baiting and brawling over every petty grievance, from would-be girlfriends to cheap potato chips. Only Father Welsh, the local parish priest, will try to save them before their sibling rivalry explodes into a hilarious and brutal finish.

"Shockingly funny... intoxicating mixture of grimness and hilarity... a production that hits the bull's-eye throughout. –The Philadelphia Inquirer

Lantern Theater Company's ambitious 14th Season appropriately began with the artistic and technical challenges of The Lonesome West. This production features the Lantern's first foray into pyrotechnics and has the production staff working overtime to fashion hundreds of religious figurines, dozens of which are featured onstage each night.

Playwright Martin McDonagh (The Pillowman, The Beauty Queen of Leenane), has written seven plays since 1996, as well as the Oscar-winning short film Six Shooter, and was the first dramatist since Shakespeare to have four plays produced in London in a single season. Part of McDonagh's Leenane Trilogy, The Lonesome West was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play in 1999, and offers up the best of McDonagh's signature dark comedic take on the Irish family complete with destructive dysfunction and vicious violence.

This all-Philadelphia cast features Anthony Lawton (multi-Barrymore nominee and Barrymore winner for Best Ensemble for Bat Boy) as Coleman with newcomer Ross Beschler as Valene. Rounding out the cast are talented emerging artists Luigi Sottile as Father Welsh and Geneviève Perrier as Girleen. David O'Connor, Barrymore-nominated Director for "Master Harold"... and the boys directs this production. O'Connor was also named Best Director of the 2006/07 Philadelphia Theater season by Philadelphia Weekly. The artistic team includes acclaimed Philadelphia designers: Lighting Designer Janet Embree, Costume Designer Millie Hiibel (multi-Barrymore nominee, including Lantern's La Ronde and the F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist), Set Designer Meghan Jones, and Sound Designer Matthew Lorenz.

WHERE
Lantern Theater Company
At St. Stephen's Theater
10th and Ludlow Streets, Philadelphia

TICKETS
Single Tickets: $15-35; discounts available for students, seniors and groups of 12 or more
By Phone: 215.829.0395
Online: www.lanterntheater.org
In Person: St Stephen's Theater, 10th & Ludlow Streets
Box Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 10am-6pm. One hour prior before curtain on performance days.

Press: may arrange for tickets by calling 215.829.9002 x106.

ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCES
Wednesday, October 10 at 7pm
Thursday, October 11 at 7pm
Friday, October 12 at 8pm
Saturday, October 13 at 8pm
Sunday, October 14 at 2pm (Final Performance)

THE LONESOME WEST SPECIAL EVENTS

Meet the Artists (September 26, 4pm) New for the 2007/08 season, this post-show discussion features members of The Lonesome West cast and creative team.

Symposium (October 6, 4pm) Members of The Lonesome West creative team and Michael A Moir, Jr, who holds his MA in Irish Studies, discuss themes related to the play.

The Lonesome West was made possible in part by a grant from the Philadelphia Theatre Initiative, a program of the Philadelphia Center for Arts and Heritage, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by The University of the Arts. Other major foundation support for the Lantern's 2007/08 season includes The William Penn Foundation, The Independence Foundation, and the Phoebe Haas Charitable Trust B.