Hawke to Direct Play at New Group; '07-'08 Season Set

Ethan Hawke, who recently received a Tony Award nomination for his work as Bakunin in the three-part epic The Coast of Utopia, will soon make his Off-Broadway directing debut, according to Variety.

He will return to The New Group (where he previously starred in Hurlyburly) to stage Jonathan Marc Sherman's Things We Want, which will launch the Off-Broadway company's 12th season.  The play "deals with three brothers struggling to cope after the suicide of both their parents."  No casting has been announced.  Things We Want starts previews on October 7th.

Following Things We Want, The New Group will stage the U.S. premiere of Mike Leigh's London hit Two Thousand Years in January of 2008.  Directed by New Group Artistic Director Scott Elliott (who has staged Leigh's Abigail's Party and three other of the playwright's works), Two Thousand Years concerns "escalating tensions in a North London Jewish family mirror those in the Middle East."  The play premiered at London's National Theatre in 2005.

Mark Brokaw (The Constant Wife) will direct Kevin Elyot's Mouth to Mouth, which premiered at London's Royal Court in 2001, in the spring.  The play by the author of My Night with Reg "centers on an emotionally constricted writer suffering from a serious illness."

Film and stage star Hawke has also been seen on Broadway in The Seagull and Henry IV.  He is a two-time Oscar nominee for his performance in Training Day and for co-writing the screenplay of Before Sunset.  His other film credits include Assault on Precinct 13, Tape, Waking Life, Hamlet, Great Expectations, Gattaca, Before Sunrise, Quiz Show, Reality Bites and Dead Poets Society.  Film directing credits include Chelsea Walls.  He has penned two novels.

The New Group performs at the Acorn on Theater Row. 

Visit www.thenewgroup.org for more information.

Photo by Linda Lenzi