A SPECIAL RETURN ENGAGEMENT OF "FIGHTING WORDS"

Original Los Angeles cast in limited run at the Celtic Arts Center in advance of the play?s European premiere at the Passion: Cardiff City of Drama Festival in Wales this summer.

In the fall of 2004, Sunil Kuruvilla?s hard-hitting drama, FIGHTING WORDS, had its West Coast premiere at the Celtic Arts Center. This pull-no-punches production garnered great critical acclaim for director Tim Byron Owen and for his knockout cast of three women. Now Owen reunites his original trio of actors for a limited return engagement at the Celtic Arts Center before taking the highly praised production to the 250-seat Weston Studio in the brand new Wales Millennium Centre for the play?s European premiere. FIGHTING WORDS, a fictional work based on the infamous 1980 boxing match between Mexican pugilist Lupe Pintor and Welsh boxing phenomenon Johnny Owen, will be the featured production at the Passion: Cardiff City of Drama Festival this July.

The tiny Welsh village of Merthyr Tydfil is known for producing great boxers, but none of them has ever won a bantamweight world championship. So in 1980, when skinny, 24-year old Johnny Owen?known as the Matchstick Man for his scrawny appearance?came to Los Angeles to fight for the Bantamweight World Championship against Lupe Pintor, he brought with him the hopes and dreams of every resident of his rural hometown. As the women breathlessly await the fight results, they also make plans for their own uncertain futures.

REVIEWS * REVIEWS * REVIEWS * REVIEWS

"a near-perfect fusion of direction and performance... a power-house cast... Uniformly mesmerizing, the actors give performances that are works of art. Sullivan is a simmering Modigliani about to burst off the canvas, while Gardner is Munch caught between a smile and a scream. Loucks is a mobile made out of tensile wire, fixed in place but spinning with compressed energy."
- Los Angeles Times

"RECOMMENDED:"a full-throated ode to workady female toughness and aspiration... Director Tim Byron Owen gets wonderful performances from his three actors"
- LA Weekly

"...Kuruvilla's script plays out in physical and emotional wallops... Director Tim Byron Owen displays a fine ability to traverse tricky setups with cast members playing multiple roles--the women play other characters in flashbacks. Of course it helps that he has a trio of strong performers to work with, all of whom offer powerful performances and have their own individual moments to shine."
- Backstage West

FIGHTING WORDS opens on Friday, 28 April, and runs through Sunday, 11 June, at the Celtic Arts Center, 4843 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Studio City. Fri, Sat @ 8:00pm; Sunday @ 7pm

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