Pascale Armand, Molly Camp and More Announced for MCC's RELEVANCE

MCC Theater (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, William Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) today announced the complete cast for the third show of its 2017-18 season: the World Premiere of Relevance, written by J. Lee ("How to Get Away With Murder," "Looking") with direction by Tony Award® nominee Liesl Tommy (Eclipsed).

The cast will feature Tony Award® nominee, Outer Critics Circle and Obie Award winner Pascale Armand (Eclipsed), Molly Camp (The Heiress), and Emmy Award® nominee Richard Masur("Transparent," "Orange Is the New Black"). They will join the previously announced Tony Award® winner and MCC alum Jayne Houdyshell (The Humans; A Doll's House, Part 2; Coraline at MCC Theater).

As previously announced, Relevance begins previews at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street) on Thursday, February 1, 2018, with an official opening night set for Tuesday, February 20, 2018.

In Relevance, Theresa Hanneck is a celebrated author and veteran feminist warrior; Msemaji Ukweli is a promising young writer who is quickly becoming the leading cultural critic on race, class, and gender for a new generation. When a heated exchange between the two women goes viral, Theresa finds herself ill-equipped to manage her message in the social media era-especially against a rival whose time may have come. Directed by Tony Award® nominee Liesl Tommy, a collision of ideals within the feminist movement propels J. Lee's riveting drama from breathless start to surprising finish.

The creative team for Relevance includes scenic design by Tony Award® winner Clint Ramos, costume design by Jacob A. Climer, lighting design by Jiyoun Chang, sound design by Broken Chord, projection design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, and casting by Telsey + Company/Adam Caldwell, CSA, William Cantler, CSA, Karyn Casl, CSA. Production Stage Manager Alex H. Hajjarand Stage Manager Ayisha Hunt.

Tickets are now available to the general public. A limited number of $30 tickets are available for all preview performances of Relevance. Throughout the run, $30 tickets are available for audience members 29 years old or younger on the day of the performance pending availability and with a valid ID. For more information, visit www.mcctheater.org.

Pascale Armand (Msemaji) is an award-winning actor. Her body of work includes appearing on Broadway in the history-making production of Eclipsed by Danai Gurira (2016 Tony Award® nominee for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play) & The Trip to Bountiful with Ms. Cicely Tyson, embodying Shakespearean characters ('Rosaline' in Love's Labor's Lost, 'Marina' in Pericles, 'Ophelia' in Hamlet, 'Celia' in As You Like It), performing in solid works of African-American Playwrights ('Beneatha' in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, 'Grace' in The Piano Lesson, 'Rena' in Jitney, 'Black Mary' in Gem of the Ocean by August Wilson & 'Salima' in Lynn Nottage's Ruined) & originating characters in premieres of contemporary pieces ('Jekesai/Ester' in Danai Gurira's The Convert (2012 LA Ovation Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play) and 'Amina' in Belleville by Amy Herzog). Other works: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' An Octoroon. Film & television credits: "The Blacklist," "American Odyssey," "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D," and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." Core member of Quick Silver Theater. Alumna of NYU's Graduate Acting Program.

Molly Camp (Kelly) is thrilled to be a part of such a wonderful cast and creative team. Favorite theatre credits include: The Heiress (Broadway), Close Up Space (Manhattan Theatre Club, directed by Leigh Silverman), Extremities (Berkshire Theatre Group, directed by Karen Allen), Crimes of the Heart (McCarter, directed by Liesl Tommy), Are You There McPhee? (McCarter, John Guare world premiere), The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Berkeley Rep, directed by Les Waters), An Opening in Time (Hartford Stage, Christopher Shinn world premiere, directed by Oliver Butler), and Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing (Vineyard Playhouse, directed by James Lapine). On television Molly has appeared on "High Maintenance," "Gotham," "Law and Order: SVU," "The Good Wife," "Gossip Girl," and "All My Children." Molly is a member of the Actors Center and graduate of Otterbein University.

Jayne Houdyshell (Theresa). Broadway: A Doll's House: Part 2 (Tony Award® nomination), The Humans (Tony Award®), Fish in the Dark, Romeo and Juliet, Follies (Tony Award® nomination), The Importance of Being Earnest, Dead Accounts, Bye Bye Birdie, Wicked, Well (Tony Award® nomination, Theatre World Award). Off-Broadway: The Humans (Obie Award, Drama Desk Award for Best Ensemble); Harrison, TX; Coraline, The Receptionist, The New Century, The Pain and The Itch, Much Ado About Nothing, Well (Obie Award). She is the recipient of a 2013 Special Drama Desk Award "for her artistry as an exceptionally versatile and distinctive Broadway and Off-Broadway performer." Film: Lucky Stiff, Everybody's Fine, Garden State, Trust the Man, Bounty Hunter. TV: "The Good Fight," "American Odyssey," "Elementary," "Blue Bloods," "Law & Order: SVU."

Richard Masur (David) has been well known to theater, film, and television audiences for almost 45 years. Broadway: The Changing Room, Democracy, and Lucky Guy. Off-Broadway: Sarah, Sarah -MTC; The Ruby Sunrise - The Public; Sarah Treem's a feminine ending, Mike Leigh's 2000 Years; Charles Busch's Olive and The Bitter Herbs, Will Power's Fetch Clay, Make Man. Film: Who'll Stop the Rain, Risky Business, The Thing, My Girl, Heaven's Gate, Forget Paris, Heartburn, Under Fire, Tumbledown, Don't Think Twice, and The Lonely Boys. TV Film: "Over 45," "Adam," "Fallen Angel," "When The Bough Breaks," "The Burning Bed" (Emmy® Nomination), "And The Band Played On," "It," and "61*." TV series: "The Hot l Baltimore," "One Day at a Time," "Rhoda," "Empire," "Picket Fences," "Bored To Death," "Girls," "The Good Wife," "The Good Fight," "Orange is the New Black," "Younger," "Red Oaks," and "Transparent." Go to imdb.com for a full list.

MCC Theater broke ground on its first permanent home- a two-theater complex on West 52nd Street and 10th Avenue-on March 22, 2016. Set to open in 2018, the space will unite MCC's diverse roster of programs under one roof for the first time in the company's three-decade history. The new facility will also allow MCC to expand its programming and establish it as a cultural anchor within the Clinton neighborhood. The project is funded by a public-private partnership between the Theater and the City of New York.

About MCC Theater

MCC is one of New York's leading nonprofit Off-Broadway companies, driven by a mission to provoke conversations that have never happened and otherwise never would. Founded in 1986 as a collective of artists leading peer-based classes to support their own development as actors, writers and directors, the tenets of collaboration, education, and community are at the core of MCC Theater's programming. One of the only theaters in the country led continuously by its founders, Artistic Directors Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, and William Cantler, MCC fulfills its mission through the production of world, American, and New York premiere plays and musicals that challenge artists and audiences to confront contemporary personal and social issues, and robust playwright development and education initiatives that foster the next generation of theater artists and students.

MCC Theater's celebrated productions include Penelope Skinner's The Village Bike; Robert Askins' Hand to God; John Pollono's Small Engine Repair; Paul Downs Colaizzo's Really Really; Sharr White's The Other Place (Broadway transfer); a fully reimagined version of the legendary musical Carrie; Jeff Talbott's The Submission (Laurents/Hatcher Award); Michael Weller's Fifty Words; Alexi Kaye Campbell's The Pride; Bryony Lavery's Frozen (Broadway transfer; four 2004 Tony Award® nominations including Best Play, Tony Award® for Best Featured Actor); Tim Blake Nelson's The Grey Zone; Rebecca Gilman's The Glory of Living (2002 Pulitzer Prize finalist); Margaret Edson's Wit (1999 Pulitzer Prize); and ten plays by Playwright-in-Residence Neil LaBute, including Reasons to Be Happy, reasons to be pretty (Broadway transfer, three 2009 Tony Award® nominations, including Best Play), Some Girl(s), Fat Pig, The Mercy Seat, and most recently All The Ways To Say I Love You. Many plays developed and produced by MCC have gone on to productions throughout the country and around the world.

Blake West joined the company in 2006 as Executive Director. MCC will open its first permanent home in 2018 in Manhattan's Clinton neighborhood, unifying the company's activities under one roof for the first time and expanding its producing, artist development, and education programming.

Photo Credit: Genevieve Rafter-Keddy