John Patrick Shanley’s Danny and the Deep Blue Sea

River Rep Theatre is dedicated to presenting the finest contemporary playwrights, innovative group-generated plays, and bold new adaptations of classics.

Long before John Patrick Shanley won a Pulitzer Prize for Doubt, and an Oscar for Moonstruck, he wrote the classic play, DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA, a heartbreaking and poignant love story about two damaged outcasts who discover redemption and release in a Bronx dive bar.

“…a wrenching love story.” —NY Daily News. “…the play is the equivalent of sitting at ringside watching a prize fight that concludes in a loving embrace.” —NY Times. “…a funny, frightening, hypnotically fascinating evening of theatre…” —Drama-Logue.

Actors

Sadie Isseks

Sadie Isseks (“Roberta”) Sadie Isseks is a Meisner-trained actor based in New York, hailing originally from upstate. She has worked both on stage and screen, and enjoys the rigors of classical, as well as contemporary drama. She has trained with Shakespeare & Company under Dennis Krausnick, studied at the Actors’ Movement Studio with Janice Orlandi and Loyd Williamson, and has worked alongside John DeSotelle and Nuance Theatre Company for many years. Favorite productions have included Clifford Odets’ Awake And Sing, Pendleton King’s Cocaine, and Arthur Kopit’s Chamber Music. Her credo is that work in the arts can, at its best, alleviate and ignite the human condition, and should be, at its core, a generous act; an actor without empathy is a tuneless instrument.

Charlie McElveen

Charlie McElveen (“Danny”) Charlie studied acting at the prestigious Guildhall Drama School in London where he graduated in 2017 with a BA Honours in Acting. Since graduating, his acting credits include Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (Pasadena, CA), Treat in Orphans (Access Theater, NYC), Elliot in Nerve (Under St. Marks, NYC), and he has appeared in television roles in The Brides pilot with The CW, HBO’s The Deuce, and CBS’s Evil, as well as in various independent films. On top of his rigorous training at Guildhall, he has trained with world renowned teachers such as Larry Moss, Howard Fine, and Lesly Kahn, and today works regularly with Karl Bury. Charlie is passionate about the influence theater can have on a person’s brain, body, and soul, and is dedicated to creating work that inspires love and honest connection.

Directed by Christopher Peditto

Christopher Peditto (artistic director) studied drama at Carnegie-Mellon University and with renowned acting teacher Robert Lewis (founder of The Actors Studio in New York City). Co-founded igLoo Theatre Chicago, where he directed notable premieres of Lee Breuer’s A Prelude to Death in Venice and John Fante’s The Saga of Arturo Bandini. Off-Broadway directing credits include world premiere adaptations of Charles Bukowski’s Pulp, at SoHo Rep, and Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me, at Currican Theatre. He’s worked with (among others) MCC Theatre, Workhouse, Shooting Gallery, Naked Angels, and at HERE Arts Center.

From 2000-2015, Peditto worked as a producer at HBO, creating original online content for HBO Films, HBO Miniseries and HBO Documentaries. He made his feature film directing debut with Light and the Sufferer, starring Paul Dano and Michael Esper, which premiered at the 2007 Edmonton International Film Festival. Moving to Sarajevo in 2016, Peditto directed European premieres of Michael Ende’s fantasy classic, The Neverending Story at Sarajevo Youth Theater, and Warren Leight’s Side Man in 2020, which is currently running in repertoire at Chamber Theater Sarajevo. He teaches acting at the Homestead School in Hurleyville, NY. His work has received support from the U.S. Embassy Sarajevo Cultural Grants Program and the Illinois Arts Council.

John Patrick Shanley

John Patrick Shanley (playwright) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and theatre and film director. His play Doubt: A Parable won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as the 2005 Tony Award for Best Play. He won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his film Moonstruck.