THE OTHER PLACE Hosts Sloan Panel Discussion Today

Manhattan Theatre Club announces the guests for the upcoming Sloan panel discussing Sharr White's The Other Place. The panel will focus on the role of science in the play and will feature novelist Stefan Merrill Block, author of The Story of Forgetting; playwright Sharr White; neuroscientist Heather Berlin; and genetic counselor Jill Goldman. The panel will be moderated by NPR's Robert Krulwich. The panel will follow the 2 PM matinee performance today, January 27 at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street).

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has provided a grant to Manhattan Theatre Club to support the development of plays that address themes of math, science, and technology and that depict scientists, mathematicians, and engineers as major characters. The aim is to bridge the divide between the "two cultures," science and the arts.

In addition to providing a grant for commissioning engaging plays with science and technology themes and characters, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has provided production support for MTC's Broadway production of Sharr White's The Other Place, directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello. This season, the Sloan Foundation also provided production support for MTC's recent Broadway production of Sloan-commissioned writer Rebecca Lenkiewicz's adaptation of An Enemy of the People directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes.

MTC first collaborated with the Sloan Foundation in 2000 with the production of David Auburn's Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Proof. MTC's partnership with the Sloan Foundation has expanded to include multiple annual commissions for emerging, mid-level, and established writers as well as a production grant to stage Sloan-related works. In addition to Proof, Sloan supported MTC's production of Charlotte Jones' Humble Boy in 2003.

Since partnering with the Sloan Foundation, MTC has commissioned a total of 40 writers: Stephen Belber, Glen Berger, April De Angelis, Lisa D'Amour, Charles Evered, Melissa James Gibson, Daniel Goldfarb, Rinne Groff, Sam Hunter, Ron Hutchinson, Nick Jones, Lucy Kirkwood, Bryony Lavery, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Kenneth Lin, Craig Lucas, Michael Mitnick, Peter Morris, Hannah Moscovitch, Itamar Moses, Rona Munro, Brett Neveu, Nick Payne, HAnnie Rayson, Melissa Ross, Heidi Schreck, Mark Schultz, Eric Simonson, Dava Sobel, Simon Stephens, Shelagh Stephenson, Sarah Treem, Catherine Trieschmann, John Walch, Anne Washburn, Jason Wells, Michael West, Bess Wohl, Beau Willimon, and Anna Ziegler.