Jack O'Brien Will Direct Stoppard's THE HARD PROBLEM Off-Broadway This Fall

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of André Bishop) has announced two new productions for this fall: THE HARD PROBLEM, a new play by Tom Stoppard, to be directed by Jack O'Brien, beginning performances Thursday, October 25 and opening Monday, November 19 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater; and the Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 production of PLOT POINTS IN OUR SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT, a new play by Miranda Rose Hall, to be directed by Margot Bordelon, which will begin performances Saturday, October 6, open on Monday, October 22, and run through Sunday, November 18 at the Claire Tow Theater (150 West 65 Street).

THE HARD PROBLEM

In Tom Stoppard's THE HARD PROBLEM, Hilary (to be played by Adelaide Clemens) is a young psychology researcher at the Krohl Institute for Brain Science where psychology and biology meet. If there is nothing but matter, what is consciousness? This is "the hard problem" facing science, and for Hilary the possibility of genuine altruism, without a hidden Darwinian self-interest, depends on the answer. Meanwhile she is nursing a private sorrow. She needs a miracle and is prepared to pray for one.

THE HARD PROBLEM will feature Eshan Bay, Adelaide Clemens, Nina Grollman, Katie Beth Hall, Chris O'Shea, Tara Summers, and Karoline Xu, with additional casting to be announced at a later date. The production will feature sets by David Rockwell, costumes by Catherine Zuber, lighting by Japhy Weideman, sound by Jill BC Du Boff, and original music by Bob James.

Tom Stoppard continues a long association with Lincoln Center Theater where his plays Arcadia, Hapgood, The Invention of Love, andThe Coast of Utopia (Tony Award - Best Play) were produced. LCT was also a co-producer of the Broadway production of Stoppard's Rock 'N' Roll. His other works include Jumpers, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Travesties, Night and Day, The Real Thing, Indian Ink, and his first full-length play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which was staged by the National Theatre in 1967. Stage adaptions and translations:Undiscovered Country (Schnitzler), On the Razzle (Nestroy), Rough Crossing (Molnar), The Seagull (Chekhov), Henry VI (Pirandello), Heroes(Sibleyras), Ivanov (Chekhov), The Cherry Orchard (Chekhov). Screenplays: Brazil, Empire of the Sun, Enigma, Shakespeare in Love (Academy Award - Best Original Screenplay). He also directed the film version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival). Stoppard received a knighthood in 1997 and in 2000 was awarded the Order of Merit by Her Majesty the Queen.

Jack O'Brien directed the LCT productions of Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia (Tony Award), The Invention of Love(Drama Desk Award), and Hapgood (Lucille Lortel Award). His other LCT productions include Macbeth, The Nance, Henry IV (Tony Award), Pride's Crossing, The Little Foxes, and Two Shakespearean Actors (Tony nomination). His Broadway credits include the current Carousel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Front Page, It's Only a Play, Dead Accounts, Catch Me If You Can, Impressionism, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Hairspray (Tony Award), Imaginary Friends, The Full Monty, More to Love, Getting Away With Murder, Damn Yankees, and Porgy and Bess. Metropolitan Opera: Il Trittico. Carnegie Hall: Guys and Dolls. Central Park: Much Ado About Nothing. London: Love Never Dies, Hairspray, His Girl Friday (National Theatre). He was the Artistic Director of The Old Globe Theatre from 1981-2007 and directed six movies for PBS's "American Playhouse." Book: Jack Be Nimble, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. O'Brien directed the critically acclaimed national tour of The Sound of Music and the world premiere of the Jake Heggie/Terrence McNally opera Great Scott for The Dallas Opera. Mr. O'Brien was nominated for an Emmy Award for his documentary "Becoming Mike Nichols" (HBO).

THE HARD PROBLEM is supported by the Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater. The Mitzi E. Newhouse season is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

PLOT POINTS IN OUR SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT

Theo (to be played by Jax Jackson) and Cecily (to be played by Marianne Rendon) want to be honest about their sexual histories, but what happens when telling the truth jeopardizes everything? A contemporary queer love story, PLOT POINTS IN OURSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT explores gender, intimacy, and the dangers of revealing yourself to the person you love.

PLOT POINTS IN OUR SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT will have sets by Andrew Boyce, costumes by Sarafina Bush, lighting by Jiyoun Chang, and sound by Brandon Wolcott.

Miranda Rose HALL is a playwright from Baltimore, MD. She has developed her work with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Playwrights Realm, New York Theatre Workshop, Baltimore Center Stage, Woolly Mammoth, the Kennedy Center/NNPN MFA Playwrights Festival, Diversionary Theatre, and Orlando Shakespeare Theater. She is currently Resident Playwright and ensemble member with LubDub Theatre, and has taught at Georgetown and Wesleyan. BA: Georgetown, MFA: Yale School of Drama.

Margot Bordelon's recent projects include: Wilder Gone by Angela Hanks for Clubbed Thumb (NYT's Critic's pick); Do You Feel Anger? by Mara Nelson-Greenberg at ATL's Humana Festival; The Last Class: A Jazzercize Play by Megan Hill at ATC in Seattle; Too Heavy For Your Pocket by Jireh Breon Holder at the Roundabout Underground and the Alliance; The Pen by Julianne Wick Davis and Dan Collins for Premieres NYC (NYT's Critic's pick); peerless by Jiehae Park at Marin Theatre Company and Yale Rep; A Delicate Ship by Anna Ziegler for Playwrights Realm (NYT's Critic's pick); and Okay, Bye by Joshua Conkel at Steppenwolf Theatre. Her work has been seen at Ars Nova, American Theater Co., Berkeley Rep, Cherry Lane, Clubbed Thumb, Dodo, Juilliard, The Lark, NYTW, P73, Perry Mansfield, PlayPenn, Portland Center Stage, Primary Stages, The Public, PWC, Rattlestick, SPACE at Ryder Farm, Steppenwolf Theatre, the Wilma, and Woolly Mammoth, among others. She is a founding member of Theatre Seven of Chicago, and spent four seasons working on the artistic staff of Lookingglass Theatre. BFA: Cornish College of the Arts, MFA: Yale School of Drama. Upcoming: Eddie and Dave by Amy Staats at Atlantic Theater Company.

LCT3 is dedicated to producing the work of new playwrights, directors, and designers and engaging new audiences. Evan Cabnet is Artistic Director of LCT3.

The LCT3 season program is supported by generous grants from The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, The Howard Gilman Foundation, Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, Time Warner Foundation, the Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, The SHS Foundation, the Tony Randall Theatrical Fund, the J & AR Foundation, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Endowment support is generously provided by Daryl Roth.

This fall, in addition to THE HARD PROBLEM and PLOT POINTS IN OUR SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT, LCT is also producing the ongoing run of its award-winning production of Lerner & Loewe's My Fair Lady, directed by Bartlett Sher, at the Vivian Beaumont Theater; and will be a co-producer of the Broadway production of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, a new play by Aaron Sorkin, also directed by Bartlett Sher, which will begin performances Thursday, November 1 at the Shubert Theatre.