Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced additional casting and details for the second production of its 2008/2009 Season, the World Premiere of KINDNESS, a new play written and directed by Adam Rapp (Essential Self-Defense at Playwrights Horizons, Red Light Winter).
The production will begin previews on Thursday, September 25 with an official opening on Monday, October 13 at 7PM. Performances will continue through Sunday, November 2 at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street).
Christopher Denham (
Adam Rapp's Red Light Winter and the Broadway productions of The Lieutenant of Inishmore and "MASTER HAROLD"…and the boys) completes the cast that features the previously-announced Academy Award and Emmy Award nominee
Annette O'Toole (Best Original Song for A Mighty Wind, plus
The Seagull at CSC, Martha Kent on TV's "Smallville"), Obie Award winner Ray Anthony Thomas (Forced Continuum) and
Katherine Waterston (Los Angeles at The Flea, the film The Babysitters).
In KINDNESS, an ailing mother (
Annette O'Toole) and her teenaged son (
Christopher Denham) flee Illinois and a crumbling marriage for the relative calm and safety of a midtown Manhattan hotel. Mom holds tickets to a popular musical about love among bohemians. Her son isn't interested. So Mom takes the kindly cabdriver (Ray Anthony Thomas) instead, while the boy entertains an enigmatic, potentially dangerous young woman (
Katherine Waterston) from down the hall.
Adam Rapp's KINDNESS is a play about the possibility for sympathy in a harsh world, and the meaning of mercy in the face of devastating circumstances.
The production features scenic design by
Lauren Helpern, costume design by Daphne Javitch, lighting design by
Mary Louise Geiger and sound design by
Eric Shim. The Production Stage Manager will be Richard Hodge.
Playwrights Horizons' 2008/2009 Season is generously supported by The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.
Playwrights Horizons is supported in part by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate. In addition, Playwrights Horizons receives major support from Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Charina Endowment Fund, The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, The Shubert Foundation and Time Warner Inc.
The performance schedule for KINDNESS will be Tuesdays through Fridays at 7:30 PM, Saturdays at 2 & 7:30 PM and Sundays at 2 & 7PM. Tickets are $50 and will go on sale to the general public starting Friday, August 29. Tickets may be purchased online via TicketCentral.com, by phone at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily), or in person at the Ticket Central Box Office, 416 West 42nd Street (between Ninth & Tenth Avenues). Subscriptions for the 2008/2009 Playwrights Horizons season are now available.
A ticketing initiative created last season, LIVEforFIVE makes available $5 tickets for the first preview performance of each Playwrights Horizons production through a lottery via the company's website. The LIVEforFIVE lottery for KINDNESS will be for the first preview on Thursday, September 25 at 7:30 PM. Entries for the lottery will be accepted beginning Wednesday, September 17 at 10 AM, with theatergoers filling out an entry form at www.playwrightshorizons.org. Entries will be accepted until Monday, September 22 at 12 Noon. Winners of the lottery will be notified via email by Tuesday, September 23 at 12 Noon with instructions on how to book their $5 tickets. One or two tickets may be purchased for $5 each. At least 40 tickets will be available for Sharp shows via the lottery.
Reflecting PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS' ongoing commitment to making its productions more affordable to younger audiences, the theater company will offer HOTtix, $20 rush tickets, subject to availability, day of performance only, starting one hour before showtime to patrons aged 30 and under. Proof of age required. One ticket per person, per purchase. STUDENT RUSH, $15 rush tickets, subject to availability, day of performance only, starting one hour before curtain to full-time graduate and undergraduate students. One ticket per person, per purchase. Valid student ID required.
LIVEforFIVE, HOTtix and STUDENT RUSH are some of Playwrights Horizons' popular Arts Access initiatives, which allow the theater company to reach out to those who may not be able to afford the cost of a full-price theater ticket. Playwrights Horizons is grateful to Goldman, Sachs & Co., lead sponsor of Arts Access at Playwrights Horizons. This program is also supported, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the Elroy and Terry Krumholz Foundation.
Special Post-Performance Discussions with members of the cast and creative team will take place immediately after the following three performances: Friday evening, September 26 at 7:30 PM, Wednesday evening, October 1 at 7:30 PM and Sunday matinee, October 19 at 2PM.
Photo Credit Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.
