Iraq War and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell explored in "The Eyes of Babylon"

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) announces the New York City premiere of The Eyes of Babylon, written and performed by Jeff Key and directed by Yuval Hadadi, which is part of Americas Off Broadway. The Eyes of Babylon begins previews on Tuesday, June 14 for a limited engagement through Sunday, July 3. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:15 PM; Friday at 8:15 PM; Saturday at 2:15 PM and 8:15 PM; and Sunday at 3:15 PM and 7:15 PM. The regular ticket price is $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or visit http://www.59e59.org/.

U.S. Marine Jeff Key transforms his Iraq journal into a gritty, humorous and poetic solo performance about going to war as a 34-year-old gay man at the heady start of the Iraq invasion.

Launching with 9/11, traveling through the Iraqi desert and finally “coming out” on CNN, The Eyes of Babylon is a personal, poignant story of one brave marine’s personal battle with the war, his country and himself.

Jeff Key (playwright/actor) is a former Marine, Iraq war veteran, peace activist and queer civil rights activist. He sits on the Board of Directors for Iraq Veterans Against the War and is the founding board member of The Mehadi Foundation, which provides support for returning veterans and develops philanthropic projects; specifically, clean water supplies and other basic necessities in Iraq and Afghanistan. Key is an award-winning playwright, performer and author of The Eyes of Babylon and two other plays in development. He is also the subject of the Showtime documentary "Semper Fi." Key lives in Salt Lake City with his husband, Adam, a second-year medical student at the University of Utah.

Born and raised in Israel, Yuval Hadadi (director) moved to NYC in 1993 and became Co-Artistic Director for the Absolute Theatre Company. Among his productions are King Lear and The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare and Soil by Charles Drew Jr., which had its world premiere Off Broadway at the Mint Theater. Hadadi also directed for The Habitual Theater Company, The House of Tribes in NYC, The Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT, as well as regional theater. In the '99-'00 season, he was Assistant Director at The Public Theater. His Los Angeles theatre directing credits include Soil at the Lillian Theatre, the long running 21 Stories: A Broadway Tale at the Elephant Theatre, and The Eyes Of Babylon, which is the recipient of an Ovation nomination as well as the subject of a Showtime documentary. Currently, Hadadi serves as the artistic advisor for the new Broadway musical In a Word…Wow! by Kenneth Bonavitacola.

The Eyes of Babylon Teaser Reel from Semaphore Projects on Vimeo.