Marin Ireland Will Lead Roundabout Underground's ON THE EXHALE, Directed by Leigh Silverman

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director/CEO) has announced the world premiere of On the Exhale, by Martin Zimmerman (Netflix's Narcos), directed by Tony Award nominee Leigh Silverman (Roundabout's Violet). Celebrated Tony Award nominee and Obie Award-winning actress Marin Ireland (reasons to be pretty) will star in this solo play. This is the second play in Roundabout Underground's newly expanded two-play season, following Kingdom Come by Jenny Rachel Weiner this fall.

The world premiere of On the Exhale begins preview performances Off-Broadway on Tuesday, February 7, 2017 and opens officially on Tuesday, February 28, 2017 at the Black Box Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre (111 West 46th Street). This is a limited engagement through Sunday, April 2, 2017. All tickets for Roundabout Underground productions are $25.

Now in its tenth season, Roundabout Underground has proven an enormous success since the program debuted in 2007 with Stephen Karam's hit comedy Speech and Debate. Karam's first play commissioned by Roundabout-Sons of the Prophet-was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and his second commission, The Humans, won the Tony Award for Best Play after transferring from the Laura Pels Theatre to Broadway. Joshua Harmon also made his professional debut with Roundabout Underground with the hit Bad Jews. His most recent play, Significant Other, premiered Off-Broadway at Roundabout and is transferring to Broadway this season. Fellow Underground alumnus Steven Levenson (The Language of Trees) is making his Broadway debut this season with the much anticipated Dear Evan Hansen, while simultaneously debuting his new play, If I Forget, at the Laura Pels Theatre.

When a senseless act of violence changes her life forever, a liberal college professor (Ireland) finds herself inexplicably drawn to the very weapon used to perpetrate the crime-and to the irresistible feeling of power that comes from holding life and death in her hands. Peering down the barrel of a uniquely American crisis, she begins to suspect that when it comes to gun violence, we're all part of the problem.

On the Exhale continues the tenth season of Roundabout Underground, an initiative to introduce and cultivate artists in Roundabout's 62-seat Black Box Theatre at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre. On the Exhale was presented as part of last year's Underground Reading Series at Roundabout, and is the second production in the Roundabout Underground's newly expanded two-play 2016-2017 season. Prior productions include the acclaimed world premieres of Stephen Karam's Speech & Debate (2007), Steven Levenson's The Language of Trees (2008), Adam Gwon's Ordinary Days (2009), Kim Rosenstock's Tigers Be Still (2010), David West Read's The Dream of the Burning Boy (2011), Andrew Hinderaker's Suicide, Incorporated (2011), Joshua Harmon's Bad Jews (2012), Meghan Kennedy's Too Much, Too Much, Too Many (2013), Jeff Augustin's Little Children Dream of God (2015), Lindsey Ferrentino's Ugly Lies the Bone (2015), and Jenny Rachel Weiner's Kingdom Come (2016).

Roundabout Underground is an initiative to showcase new plays that will either give a debut production to an emerging writer or director or allow an experienced director to go back to his/her creative roots. Robyn Goodman (Artistic Consultant to the Roundabout) serves as Artistic Producer, with Associate Producers Jill Rafson and Josh Fiedler, for this initiative that continues to be a creative breeding ground for nurturing new talent.

The 62-seat Black Box Theatre, below the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, allows Roundabout to take artistic risks that are better suited for a more intimate space.

The design team will be announced soon.