The West End premiere of the dark and devilish comedy CHICKEN arrives at the Trafalgar Studio 2 from Monday 25 June 2012.

Set in the Bronx, CHICKEN is a gritty play full of street-smart humour about two childhood pals, Wendall and Floyd, an unhappy wife - and a sickly rooster they are grooming for an illegal cockfight.

Wendall (Craig Kelly, Coronation Street, Queer As Folk) and his pregnant wife's stifling and cramped apartment is full of the mess of desperate people. Floyd (George Georgiou, Mamma Mia!-The Movie) is kipping down on the sofa, and a visit from his father, his brash ex wife and the local hustler, clearly shows what an unstable upbringing and a burning desire for money can do – but will the cock be their meal ticket?

CHICKEN is an acute observation of modern life in the city, as the dysfunctional friends scrabble and strut like cocks, infighting in the grimy, slightly desperate world they inhabit. There is no working class – this is the world of the new underclass.

CHICKEN, is written by new playwright, New Yorker MIKE BATISTICK. CHICKEN opened off Broadway with The Sopranos actor MICHAEL IMPERIOLI, at his own theatre, Studio Dante.

IMPERIOLI says of CHICKEN: “I just like his writing, I like his characters and I loved the play from the first time I read it. I love the way Batistick handles New York and this melting-pot environment. The play is really filled with multi-cultural characters, and he puts them in this pressure-cooker environment”.

The production is led by director Sam Neophytou. CHICKEN is produced by Inner City Productions and Killer Theatre.

Inner City is a company devoted to developing new works that reflect the multi-cultural and multi-faceted nature of city life. Inner City Productions was founded in 2008 by George Georgiou and Sam Neophytou and their patrons include: Christopher Fettis (The Drama Centre) and playwrite Martin Sherman. CHICKEN is their first West End production.

Killer Theatre was founded in 2009 by Amy Tez and Laura Pradelska with the aim of creating theatre that is dynamic and moving, and which pushes the boundaries of the mainstream. Their latest play was the hugely successful and incendiary production of Four Dogs And a Bone by John Patrick Shanley at The Phoenix Artists Theatre in 2011. Killer Theatre is patroned by Jez Butterworth and is driven by a collective of actors, directors and writers. (www.killertheatre.com)

BOOKING INFORMATION

0844 871 7632

www.atgtickets.com/trafalgarstudios

For further press information, interviews and photography, please contact Deborah Goodman at DGPR:

tel: +44 (0)20 8959 9980 email: publicity@dgpr.co.uk