Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre Postpones THE WOOD Opening Until 9/15

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater announced today that due to Hurricane Irene, performances of The Wood, a new play by award-winning filmmaker Dan Klores about the life of New York columnist Mike McAlary, have been delayed. The Wood will now begin performances on Thursday, September 1 at Rattlestick Theater (224 Waverly Place - off Seventh Avenue South, between Perry & West 11th Streets). Opening night, previously set for Friday, September 9, will now be Thursday, September 15 at 8pm. David Bar Katz directs.

David Van Asselt, Rattlestick's Artistic Director, said in a statement "Hurricane Irene couldn't have come at a worse time - tech week. We had to suspend all activity at the theatre and see that the cast and crew got home safely. The time we lost in the theatre over the weekend has put us behind schedule. However, we are back and are looking forward to presenting Dan's moving new work."

Dan Klores has written a fast-paced, insider's look at Mike McAlary, the larger than life columnist for the Daily News and the New York Post and his missionary zeal to ferret out the truth. A Pulitzer Prize-winner for his exposé of the New York polIce Torture of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima in 1997, McAlary died of colon cancer on Christmas Day 1998 at the age of 41.

"Mike's life was made for theatre," says Klores. "He was filled with energy, genius and courage. He was a tough and shrewd New Yorker with a b.s. barometer that clicked in from the get go."

The cast includes Michael Carlsen, Melanie Charles, David Deblinger, Kim Director, Thomas Kopache, Vladimir Versailles, John Viscardi and Sidney Williams.

The creative team features John McDermott (scenic design), Kalere A. Payton (costume design), Joel Moritz (lighting design), Janie Bullard (sound design), Steve Channon (projection design) and Nina Alexander (properties). Jamie Wolfe is Production Stage Manager and Sam Horwith is Assistant Stage Manager.

The performance schedule is as follows: Wednesday - Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 3pm and Monday at 8pm. Tickets are $55 and are available through TicketCentral.com/212- 279-6200.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater is a multi-award-winning company which has produced over fifty world premieres in the past sixteen seasons and was the recipient of the 2007 Ross Wetzsteon Memorial OBIE Award for its work developing new and innovative work. Rattlestick's Advisory Board participates in The Emerging Playwrights Project, which matches a new playwright with an established artist for an experienced eye and creative support. Playwright and artist mentors have included Edward Albee, Jon Robin Baitz, Zoe Caldwell, Arthur Kopit, Craig Lucas, Joe Mantello, Terrence McNally and Marsha Norman. Previous plays include Two Boys in a Bed, Message to Michael, Carpool, Volunteer Man, A Trip to the Beach, Ascendancy, Stuck, Vick's Boy, The Messenger, Saved or Destroyed, Neil's Garden, My Special Friend, Faster, Bliss, St. Crispin's Day, Where We're Born, Five Flights, Boise, Finer Noble Gases, God Hates The Irish: The Ballad of Armless Johnny, Miss Julie, Acts of Mercy: passion-play, Cagelove, It Goes Without Saying, Dark Matters, Stay, American Sligo, Rag and Bone, War, Geometry of Fire, That Pretty Pretty; or The Rape Play, The Amish Project, Killers and Other Family, Post No Bills, Blind, Little Doc, underneathmybed, There Are No More Big Secrets, The Hallway Trilogy, Carson McCullers Talks About Love, the Off-Broadway GLAAD Award-nominated hit The Last Sunday in June, Craig Wright's The Pavilion (Drama Desk nominee - Outstanding Play of 2005) and Lady (Drama Desk nominee - Outstanding Play of 2008), as well as The Aliens by Annie Baker (2010 Obie Award winner for Best New American Play).