Press Release: 2 August 2004, PAUL SAVIDENT, MARKETING & PRESS MANAGEMENT

EAST PRODUCTIONS presents

STEVEN BERKOFF in

REQUIEM FOR GROUND ZERO by STEVEN BERKOFF
and
THE TELL TALE HEART by EDGAR ALLEN POE

PLEASANCE ONE - Edinburgh Festival
17 through 29 August 2004

The old bruiser without whom no Fringe would be complete (Daily Telegraph) returns to Edinburgh for just two weeks at Pleasance One, with his controversial poem, Requiem for Ground Zero, (August 17th - 22nd) and his classic, terrifying performance of Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell Tale Heart (August 24th - 29th).

REQUIEM FOR GROUND ZERO By STEVEN BERKOFF

"The event was like a thunderbolt aimed at the heart of the so called free world. It united the west in the most profound sense of loss since the horrors of the second world war, since it felt that the innocence of freedom in our own cities, neighbourhoods and playgrounds could no longer be taken for granted. Something had happened which was beyond imagination, a blow of such hatred it shook up our values, made us question them, take sides, look for faults that we did not even dream we had. Something had to explain this monstrosity. We are still trying to explain it as even now evidence is being dredged up, re-examined and new conclusions drawn. The world is being drawn into two zones.

I wrote this requiem even as the shock waves were travelling round the world. It is an impression of the events as they happened, and in my own small way a memorial to the dead" - Steven Berkoff

Two years after first presenting his epic poem Requiem at the Fringe, Berkoff returns to re-air the powerful emotions surrounding the catalytic event at the heart of recent political activities, which have left question marks hanging over the British government's conduct and are fuelling debate in the presidential elections in the States.

The gun-toting president may be a familiar image, but played by Berkoff he takes on new and frightening life… Berkoff at his poetic, human, politicised best. Scotland on Sunday

The writing has a beauty and sincerity… Berkoff exudes the frailty and hurt of a man who cannot take it all in. Dominic Cavendish, The Daily Telegraph

Berkoff impersonates Bush and Blair with entertaining savagery… 9/11 is the stuff of grand drama
Brian Logan, Guardian

The first significant piece of theatre in Britain to respond to 9/11… a plea for common humanity to reassert itself… potent. Robert Dawson Scott, The Times

Intense emotional identification… this really is a tragedy that belongs to us all… it exerts a fierce and memorable grip on the attention from start to finish. Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman

Berkoff's solo turn of visceral strength … his words carry at their core the conscience of a world still numb with shock and in need of redemption. Neil Cooper, The Herald

THE TELL TALE HEART By EDGAR ALLEN POE

One of the scariest depictions of dementia and murderous compulsion ever. A man stands alone in a spotlight, protesting sanity as he describes systematically killing and dismembering a neighbour whose "vulture eye" offended him… and how his perfect crime went astray. An unforgettable tale of gothic horror.

Classic Berkoff.

To say this is a tour de force is to rob the phrase of all meaning. It is a unique theatrical experience -
The Daily Mail

Funny, outrageous, obnoxious, crass yet seductive, Berkoff is a bundle of energy that could drive a locomotive up the wall - New York Metro

Berkoff never offers just a character but paints a whole culture in local lurid detail. Don't miss. -
What's On

Berkoff once more commands the stage with his formidable talent. - The Stage

INTERVIEWS, APPEARANCES, PHOTOS/IMAGES and PRESS TICKETS

For INTERVIEWS, APPEARANCES, PHOTOS/IMAGES and PRESS TICKETS please contact

• PAUL SAVIDENT on 020 8567 2089, mobile 07966 014911, e-mail paul@savident.com

• or contact Dan Pursey or Will Lewis at the Pleasance Press Office on 0131 556 6557 or by e-mail to press@pleasance.co.uk.