Theatre Exile presents a return engagement of its hit show THE PHILLY FAN by Bruce Graham starring Tom McCarthy at The Adrienne Theatre, 2030 Sansom Street, on June 13 through June 17. Exile’s ONE WEEK ONLY Fundraising Event concludes on Father’s Day and brings to mind that memorable Father’s Day in 1964 when Jim Bunning pitched his PERFECT GAME. THE PHILLY FAN relives this moment , the infamous collapse later that same year as well as many other familiar ups & downs of Philly Sports.

THE PHILLY FAN is a one-man tour-de-force where two-time Barrymore Award-winner Tom McCarthy takes audiences on a hilarious journey through Philadelphia’s sports history of the last fifty years, and the frustrations therein. THE PHILLY FAN is an in-your-face, tell-it-like-it-is romp through the eyes of a hard core sports fan, who is accustomed to seeing sure-thing victories turn into “oh-my-God-they-blew-it” defeats.

Tickets at $25 and $30 are available by calling 215-922-4462 or online at www.ThePhillyFan.net.

Directed by Theatre Exile Artistic Director Joe Canuso, THE PHILLY FAN premiered at the 2004 Philadelphia Live Arts and Philly Fringe Festival and has enjoyed several sold-out runs since then. Bruce Graham and Theatre Exile received a Barrymore Award nomination for “Best New Play” for the 05-06 Season.

“After hundreds of requests from fans who saw the show last winter and the overwhelming response to exit interviewers from both sports fans and non-sports fans, we have bowed to audience demand to remount the production. We are thrilled that even though the Philadelphia sports teams aren’t always winners, this play resonates with audiences as a champion!” said Canuso. “Bruce Graham’s play is a terrific character study of a blue-collar fan who wants to support his teams – but wants them to win, too!”

Tom McCarthy is a native Philadelphian who has performed in most of the Equity theatres in Philadelphia. Productions have included Theatre Exile’s production of Witold Gombrowicz’s Princess Ivona, Arden Theatre Company’s Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Working, All My Sons, and Death Of A Salesman for which he won a Barrymore Award for Best Actor, Brighton Beach Memoirs at the Walnut Street Theatre and Minutes From The Blue Route at Philadelphia Theatre Company. His most recent television appearance was as the Majority Whip in “The West Wing”, with other TV appearances on “Law & Order”, “Homicide”, “New York Undercover”, “Ed”, and “Hack”. Film credits include Random Hearts, Fallen, Up Close and Personal, and Blow Out. McCarthy received the 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Theatre Alliance. He has served as the Tri State Area president of the Screen Actors Guild for the past twenty years.

Bruce Graham (Playwright) is the author of 14 produced plays, including Dex & Julie, According to Goldman, Burkie, Early One Evening At The Rainbow Bar & Grille, Moon Over The Brewery, Minor Demons, Belmont Avenue Social Club, The Champagne Charlie Stakes, Cheap Sentiment and Desperate Affection. Coyote on a Fence, which premiered at Cincinnati Playhouse, was the 1998 Rosenthal Prize winner and its recent New York production received two Drama Desk nominations. He spent eight years as Playwright-in-Residence at the Philadelphia Festival Theater for New Plays and has seen his work produced by George Street Playhouse, the WPA, Urban Stages, the Hudson Guild, Capital Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Arden Theater, Northlight Theater and Long Wharf. Graham’s feature film credits include Dunston Checks In, Anastasia, and the Abbie Hoffman bio-pic, Steal this Movie. His television movies include Hunt for the Unicorn Killer (NBC’s Ira Einhorn mini-series), The Christmas Secret, Right On Track, and A Ring of Endless Light, which won the 2003 Humanitas Award for Best Children’s Film. A new film, Tiger Cruise (starring Bill Pullman) premiered on the Disney Channel in September 2004. He has received awards from the Pew Foundation, the Theater Association of Pennsylvania, the Rockefeller Foundation and was the 1992 Princess Grace Foundation Statuette recipient. Graham currently teaches film and theater courses at Drexel University and University of Pennsylvania.

Joe Canuso is the Founder and Artistic Director of Theatre Exile where he has directed Killer Joe which was awarded the Barrymore for Best Ensemble and Best Supporting Actress, Red Light Winter, Last Call, The Philly Fan, The Gin Game, Valparaiso, Cryptome, Burkie, Amputation Nation, Big Blonde, Live at the Apollo Diner, Belmont Avenue Social Club, The Frankenharry Plays, Death & Taxes, and Escurial. This is the fifth Bruce Graham play that Canuso has directed. He has also directed for InterAct Theatre Company, Drexel University, The Brick Playhouse, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, Allens Lane Theatre, and 1812 Productions. As an actor he has appeared in Theater Exile productions of Glengarry Glenn Ross, Parking, Rocketman, and Princess Ivona as well as at Arden Theatre Company, People’s Light & Theatre Company, Lantern Theatre Company, SITE, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, and Potlatch.

Additional production support includes sound and video design by Barrymore Award winner and F. Otto Haas Award recipient Jorge Cousineau and lighting design by two-time Barrymore Award winner John Hoey.

Now in its tenth season, Theatre Exile is a non-profit theatre company dedicated to providing a creative environment in which Philadelphia artists can grow and experiment, while introducing the greater Philadelphia community both to new locally written works and established plays that are reinterpreted in original ways or held in unique site-specific locations. Theatre Exile previously produced two other Graham hits: Belmont Avenue Social Club and Burkie.

Production Dates: ONE WEEK ONLY Fundraiser June 13 – 17. June 13 & 14 @ 8 pm, June 15 @ 7pm and 9 pm, June 17 @ 3 pm and 7 pm. Performance Location: The Adrienne Theatre 2030 Sansom Street Philadelphia Ticket Info : Tickets are $ 25 Wed & Thurs and $ 30 Fri & Sun Tickets available at www.ThePhillyFan.net or call 215-922-4462