Playwrights Horizons and 92YTribeca have announced that they will present a panel discussion previewing the theater company's new season on Monday evening, September 12 at 7:30 PM at 92YTribeca (200 Hudson Street). Moderated by The New Yorker culture writer Michael Schulman, joined by Playwrights Horizons Artistic Director Tim Sanford, the panel discussion will feature all six writers from the theater company's 2011/2012 Season.
The event will offer a first-look at the award-winning theater company's season line-up and represents a unique opportunity to catch six gifted artists onstage together at one time. The panel will give audience members a chance to get to know the plays and players in the season and hear the writers discuss their lives, careers and each play's ‘backstory.' Offering insights into their creative processes and answering questions from the audience, the six writers are:
• Itamar Moses (The Four of Us, Bach at Leipzig), whose new play Completeness launched the new season last week and is now in previews, with opening night set for Tuesday, September 13, 2011
• Kirsten Greenidge, in her New York debut, whose new play Milk Like Sugar will be begin previews beginning Thursday, October 13, 2011
• JorDan Harrison (Doris to Darlene at Playwrights Horizons, Act a Lady, Amazons and Their Men), whose new play Maple & Vine will begin previews Saturday, November 19, 2011
• Leslye Headland (Bachelorette), whose new play Assistance will begin previews Friday, February 3, 2012
• Dan LeFranc (Sixty Miles to Silver Lake for P73/Soho Rep, In the Labyrinth at Soho Rep), whose new play The Big Meal will begin previews Thursday, March 1, 2012
• Pulitzer Prize finalist and Obie Award winner Gina Gionfriddo (Becky Shaw, After Ashley), whose new play Rapture, Blister, Burn, commissioned by Playwrights Horizons with funds from the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, will have its World Premiere at Playwrights Horizons with previews beginning Friday, May 18, 2012 as the final production of the season
Michael Schulman works at The New Yorker, where he writes about theater and other subjects for "The Talk of the Town." His work has also appeared in the New York Times, Tablet, and The Believer.
Playwrights Horizons is a writer's theater dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American Playwrights, composers and lyricists and to the production of their new work. Under the leadership of artistic director Tim Sanford and managing director Leslie Marcus, the theater company continues to encourage the new work of veteran writers while nurturing an emerging generation of theater artists. In its 41 years, Playwrights Horizons has presented the work of more than 375 writers and has received numerous awards and honors, including a special 2008 Drama Desk Award for "ongoing support to generations of theater artists and undiminished commitment to producing new work." Notable productions include five Pulitzer Prize winners: Bruce Norris's Clybourne Park (2011 winner), Doug Wright's I Am My Own Wife (2004 Tony Award, Best Play), Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles (1989 Tony Award, Best Play), Alfred Uhry's Driving Miss Daisy and Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George - as well as Annie Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation (three 2010 Obie Awards including Best New American Play), Bathsheba Doran's Kin, Adam Bock's A Small Fire, Edward Albee's Me, Myself & I, Melissa James Gibson's This (2010 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist), Doug Wright, Scott Frankel and Michael Korie's Grey Gardens (three 2007 Tony Awards), Craig Lucas's Prayer For My Enemy and Small Tragedy (2004 Obie Award, Best American Play), Adam Rapp's Kindness, Sarah Ruhl's Dead Man's Cell Phone, Lynn Nottage's Fabulation (2005 Obie Award for Playwriting), Kenneth Lonergan's Lobby Hero, David Greenspan's She Stoops to Comedy (2003 Obie Award), Kirsten Childs's The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin (2000 Obie Award), Richard Nelson and Shaun Davey's James Joyce's The Dead, Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's Assassins, William Finn's March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, Christopher Durang's Betty's Summer Vacation and Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You, Richard Nelson's Goodnight Children Everywhere, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's Once on This Island, Jon Robin Baitz's The Substance of Fire, Scott McPherson's Marvin's Room, A.R. Gurney's Later Life, Adam Guettel and Tina Landau's Floyd Collins and Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley's Violet.
Playwrights Horizons' season productions are generously supported in part by The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
Playwrights Horizons is supported in part by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. In addition, Playwrights Horizons receives major support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Time Warner Inc., the Charina Endowment Fund and the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation.92YTribeca is the 92nd Street Y's downtown arts and culture venue in New York City. Opened in October 2008, 92YTribeca presents music, comedy, film, theater, talks, classes, family events, and Jewish community and holiday programs in a versatile, street-level, modern space at 200 Hudson Street. In addition to the mainstage and screening room, the venue houses an art gallery, lounge, bar, café, seminar and meeting rooms, and free Wi-Fi around the space. With programs developed by a professional curatorial team in partnership with staff, local artists and arts organizations, new-media companies, fellow presenters, and community and cause-based organizations, 92YTribeca aims to engage a diverse community of young people from around the New York area with smart, relevant programming that encourages participation and conversation. For more information, visit www.92YTribeca.org.
For subscription and ticket information to all Playwrights Horizons productions, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200, Noon to 8PM daily, or purchase online at the Playwrights Horizons website at www.playwrightshorizons.org.
Videos