Lincoln Center Theatre to Open Claire Tow Theater with SLOWGIRL

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Andre Bishop, Artistic Director, and Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer) has announced that the Claire Tow Theater, its newest stage at Lincoln Center and the future home to its programming initiative LCT3, will open in June with the LCT3 world premiere production of SLOWGIRL, a new play by Greg Pierce. SLOWGIRL, which will be directed by Anne Kauffman, will begin performances Monday, June 4, open Monday, June 18 and run through Sunday, July 15.

The Claire Tow Theater, named after the wife of long-time LCT Board of Directors member Leonard Tow, will become LCT’s third stage at Lincoln Center, joining the Vivian Beaumont and Mitzi E. Newhouse Theaters,. The theater will be the centerpiece of a 23,000 square foot rooftop complex, designed by noted architect Hugh Hardy of H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture LLC, which is now nearing completion on the roof of the Beaumont. In addition to the 131-seat theater, the two-story structure, which is being built at a cost of $41million, will also house much-needed rehearsal and office space and feature an outdoor terrace overlooking the Lincoln Center Plaza which will be surrounded by a new green roof. The structure is intended to be LEED Silver certified by the U.S. Green Building Council

LCT3 was established in 2008 as a programming initiative devoted to producing the work of new artists as well as developing new audiences. Since its inception, LCT3 has presented nine productions at The Duke on 42nd Street. All tickets to all LCT3 productions are $20. One of last season’s productions, the critically acclaimed 4000 Miles, a new play by Amy Herzog, directed by Daniel Aukin, will be presented by LCT as part of its regular season in the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater beginning March 15. Paige Evans is Artistic Director/LCT3.

SLOWGIRL is the story of a young woman who flees to her reclusive uncle’s retreat in the
Costa Rican jungle to escape the aftermath of a horrific accident.. The week they spend together forces them both to confront who they are as well as what it is they are running from. SLOWGIRL will have sets by Rachel Hauck, costumes by Emily Rebholz, lighting by Japhy
Weideman and sound by Leah Gelpe. The cast of SLOWGIRL will be announced at a later date.

Playwright Greg Pierce’s first professional production, an adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which he co-authored, was seen at last year’s Edinburgh International Festival. He is currently collaborating with composer John Kander, writing the book and lyrics for a new musical The Landing. SLOWGIRL will mark his New York debut.

Director Anne Kauffman directed the LCT3 production of David Adjmi’s Stunning. She was nominated for a 2011 Lucille Lortel Award for her direction of This Wide Night and won an Obie Award for her direction of The Thugs. Her other credits include Maple and Vine, God’s Ear, Sides: The Fear is Real and The Antigone Project.

This spring, in addition to 4000 Miles and Slowgirl, Lincoln Center Theater is presenting its ongoing productions of The National Theatre of Great Britain production of War Horse, winner of the 2011 Tony Award for Best Play, based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, adapted by Nick Stafford with the Handspring Puppet Company, and directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris in the Vivian Beaumont Theater and Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities, directed by Joe Mantello, at the Booth Theatre on Broadway.