"NELL GWYNNE" BRINGS JUICINESS TO THE HOLLYWOOD FRINGE 2015

NELL GWYNNE: A DRAMATICK ESSAYE ON ACTING AND PROSTITUTION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Alix Conde: [email protected] DR ACT Presents… (760) 201-5246
Photos attached:
Bella Merlin portrays trail-blazing actress Nell Gwynne at the Hollywood Fringe 2015.

‘Nell Gwynne’ Brings Juiciness to Hollywood Fringe 2015
Whizz Back in Time with One of the First Actresses on the English Stage

LOS ANGELES (April 21, 2015) – Why are actresses eternally associated with the casting couch and easy virtue? “Nell Gwynne: A Dramatick Essaye on Acting and Prostitution” asks this very question with anecdote, song, history and reflection in 45-minutes. Co-created and performed by actor Bella Merlin (www.bella.merlin.com) and directed by award-winning actor/director Miles Anderson (www.milesanderson.us), “Nell Gwynne” plays for six performances only at the Ruby Theatre at The Complex during the Hollywood Fringe Festival from June 8 to 27.

“Nell Gwynne” is a fact-based drama, shining light on the alluring journey from treading the boards to bedding the bawds. The piece is set in London, 1663, when the town is ablaze with the sight of women on the stage for the first time ever. One of the world’s first celebrity actresses, Nell Gwynne rises from cinder-girl to orange-wench to actress to king’s mistress in a matter of years. This is not a woman of easy virtue nor a prostitute to the aristocracy, but rather a serious-minded actress and King Charles II’s dearest friend. Their relationship breaks new ground with intimacy between a commoner and a royal and the monarch’s vigorous support of the theater.

“Audiences love fact-based stories – whether it’s ‘The Theory of Everything’ or ‘My Week with Marilyn,’" said Bella Merlin, author of the best-selling “The Complete Stanislavsky Toolkit” and professor of acting and directing at the University of California, Riverside. “I’ve performed in a lot of fact-based drama – from David Hare’s “The Permanent Way” at London’s National Theatre to Shakespeare’s “Richard III” at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. There’s something exciting about playing characters who really lived – or are still alive.”

Director Miles Anderson whose acting credits include the Royal Shakespeare Company, Old Globe San Diego, “Battle Creek” (CBS) and “Constantine” (NBC), said, “We want to let Nell have a voice that’s not been heard before. There are many stereotypical representations of Nell – such as the one in the film, “Stage Beauty,” yet we show that she was not just a cheeky Londoner. She was a star – an actress of overwhelming public appeal. The trouble is Nell was ahead of her time: she was a huge hit in comedy, where she basically played herself – but the public didn’t like her in tragedies – because she was too natural and truthful. How easily – and for what strange reasons – do actors become typecast!”

The production team includes Designer/Assistant Director Allison Molnaa, Costume Designer Jason Estala, Stage Manager Gema Trujillo and Production Assistant Natalia Zufferey.

What: Nell Gwynne: A Dramatick Essaye on Acting and Prostitution
Where: The Ruby Theatre at the Complex, 6476, Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood 90038
When: Monday, June 8, 8 p.m. (Preview); Friday, June 12, 9 p.m. ; Thursday, June 18, 5 p.m.;
Friday, June 19, 9 p.m.; Wednesday, June 24, 9 p.m., Saturday, June 27, 8.30 p.m.
Tickets: $12 (regular); $5 (Fringe participants)
Purchase tickets: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/2162?tab=tickets