Roundabout Announces 2017 Artistic Plans

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director/CEO) is thrilled to announce artistic plans for 2017, which welcome back a group of artists whom the theater has long respected, with new works, new roles and with a new playwright support initiative.

"Roundabout can only offer so many productions each year, so if there's a way for us to support the artists beyond the productions, we want to do that. It's so hard to establish yourself in the arts, especially early in your career. These initiatives give us new methods of making it just a bit easier to do the work that these talented writers and directors should be doing," notes Todd Haimes, Artistic Director/CEO.

In January, Roundabout launched the Roundabout Directing Fellowship, a program designed to create a long-term, meaningful relationship between the theatre and a young director. Spearheaded by Resident Director Sam Gold, the Fellowship is intended to add diversity behind the scenes and ensure an artistic home for an early-career director. The Fellow selected for the inaugural season of the program is Whitney White; she served as assistant director for Roundabout's production of If I Forget, will do the same for Marvin's Room, and works with the theatre's artistic team as a script reader, while also using Roundabout's resources to work on developing her own projects. Her current residency lasts six months. For 2017-18, the next fellowship will last for a full season, and the fellow will assist on three productions. There will be a formal application process announced in the coming months.

"Support for young directors is scarce. I'm so happy that Roundabout is carving out some space for the voices of the next generation," notes Sam Gold, Roundabout Resident Director.

Earlier this season, Roundabout launched Space Jam, a playwright support initiative designed to give young writers the time and space to work away from crowded coffee shops and shared living spaces. Space Jam offers several local group writing retreats each season, hosting up to 10 playwrights at a time, as well as private office space shared among a rotation of playwrights through WeWork. In August 2017, Roundabout will partner with the Wyoming Theater Festival in Sheridan, WY to launch a three-week writing residency program, supported with housing, transportation, and stipend for three playwrights.

"Roundabout's Space Jam offers the three essentials any playwright needs in order to write a better play: Time, space, and snacks," adds playwright Don Nguyen.

Following her year as a Roundabout Resident Playwright, recent Roundabout Underground playwright Jenny Rachel Weiner has joined the company as an Associate Artist for 2017. Jenny's talent and artistic insights will be invaluable to the artistic landscape of the theater. She joins current Associate Artists Mark Brokaw, Doug Hughes, Bill Irwin, Pam Mackinnon, Joe Mantello, Kathleen Marshall and Theresa Rebeck.

"To be made Associate Artist so seamlessly after my Residency ended has been such an enormous gift. Roundabout is unequivocally the place I feel most supported, lifted up, and fostered to be creating work that is meaningful to me. They have shown their unwavering support through the process and production of Kingdom Come, through the writing of my commission, and through their Space Jam programming, which allows the writers they work with space, time, and resources to create. Roundabout is an artistic home like no other, and I feel unbelievably lucky to be able to continue my relationship with them as Associate Artist!" notes Jenny Rachel Weiner, Associate Artist.

After collaborating with Fiasco Theater on their wildly reimagined and beloved production of Into the Woods in 2015, Roundabout has named Fiasco their Company in Residence. Roundabout will provide Fiasco an artistic home and full use of company resources to continue developing their work.

"Fiasco Theater is thrilled to be in residence at Roundabout this season. After the success of working together on Into the Woods, we leapt at the chance to deepen our relationship with Roundabout in a broad and ongoing way. We look forward to getting to learn from the artistic staff and affiliated artists as we build our next on stage projects. Fiasco is honored to have Roundabout as a meaningful partner in the creation and development of our work," notes Jessie Austrian, Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld, Fiasco Theater cofounders.

The Associate Artist program is generously underwritten by Margot Adams, in memory of Mason Adams.

Roundabout's work with new and emerging playwrights and directors, as well as development of new work, is made possible by Katheryn Patterson and Tom Kempner.

We gratefully acknowledge the Roundabout Leaders for New Works: Alec Baldwin, Linda L. D'Onofrio, Peggy and Mark Ellis, Jodi Glucksman, Sylvia Golden, Hess Foundation, Inc., Judith and Douglas Krupp, K. Myers, Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater, Laura S. Rodgers, Seedlings Foundation, Mary Solomon, Lauren and Danny Stein, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Dr. Leonard Tow, and Lori Uddenberg.

BIOGRAPHIES
Whitney White (Inaugural Directing Fellow) is a director and theatre artist originally from Chicago, based in Brooklyn, New York. This winter she assisted Sam Gold on Othello at New York Theatre Workshop. Directing credits include: Great Hill Mouth (Drama League 2016 Rough Draft Series), The Wake (Drama League, a new play by Billy Finn), and Project Hedda (Brown/Trinity 2014). Her original musical Lover I'll Bring You Back to Life was part of Ars Nova's 2016 ANT Fest, and her musical adaptation of Macbeth, Macbeth in Stride was workshopped at Chautauqua Theater Company summer of 2016. She received her MFA in Acting from Brown University/Trinity Rep and her BA from Northwestern. She is excited and eternally grateful to be part of the 2017 Roundabout Directing Fellowship.

Jenny Rachel Weiner (Associate Artist) is a playwright and actress based in New York City, and was the 2016/2017 Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence at the Roundabout Theatre Company. Select plays include: diventare (The

Harold & Mimi Steinberg National Student Playwriting Award), Horse Girls (Fordham/Primary Stages, the cell, Ars Nova; New York, Collaboraction; Chicago, Annex Theatre; Seattle, published by Samuel French), Nina (Roundabout Theatre Company Underground Reading, O'Neill Semi-Finalist 2016, Fordham/Primary Stages), Jason&Julia (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Stagedream (co-written with Lee Overtree, developed at the O'Neill Theatre Center), Aunt Sylvia Is Dead (The Collective; published in The Collective Anthology 2014), Kingdom Come (Roundabout Underground Reading Series 2015, Roundabout Underground Production Fall 2016 directed by Kip Fagan). Jenny has developed plays with and/or been commissioned by the O'Neill Theatre Center, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Primary Stages, Ars Nova, Northlight Theatre, Piven Theatre Workshop, and Roundabout Theatre Company. BFA: Boston University, MFA: Fordham University/Primary Stages. Jenny has the distinct honor of being a part of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at Juilliard, beginning September 2016. When Jenny isn't writing plays, you can catch her directing and performing with NYC/LA based theatre company Story Pirates. jennyrachelweiner.com

FIASCO THEATER (Company in Residence) is an ensemble theater company created by graduates of the Brown University/Trinity Rep M.F.A. acting program. Past shows include Cymbeline, Twelfth Night and Into the Woods. Cymbeline was presented Off-Broadway twice, for nearly 200 performances, and was honored with the Off- Broadway Alliance Award for best revival of 2011/2012. On February 28th they will premiere their current production, Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, at the New Victory Theatre through March 16th. This spring they will present a new production of Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona at the Folger Theatre in Washington, DC. This summer their critically acclaimed production of Into the Woods will be presented at The Old Globe in San Diego before its New York run at Roundabout. Fiasco has been in residence with the Sundance Theatre Lab, NYU- Gallatin, Duke University, Marquette University, and LSU. Their work has been developed at the Orchard Project and the Shakespeare Society, and they have led master classes at Brown University and NYU. Since 2008, Fiasco has annually offered the Free Training Initiative-a conservatory-level classical acting intensive for professional actors, completely free of charge to students. fiascotheater.com

ABOUT THE NEW PLAY INITIATIVE

Through the New Play Initiative, Roundabout proves its devotion to the development and production of new works by significant writers and artists. The Roundabout Underground program in particular, provides substantial artistic and financial resources to emerging playwrights to stage their debut productions in New York and on Roundabout's stages. In addition to producing their first play, writers receive a commission for a future play, showing a level of commitment to writers' careers and the future of theatre in New York that is unparalleled. The New Play Initiative has discovered and brought audiences some of the most important new voices in theatre and is dedicated to creating a diverse canon for the future of theatre. To learn more about Roundabout's commitment to the development of new work, visit NPI VIDEO.

Roundabout Theatre Company is committed to producing the highest quality theatre with the finest artists, sharing stories that endure, and providing accessibility to all audiences. A not-for-profit company, Roundabout fulfills its mission each season through the production of classic plays and musicals; development and production of new works by established and emerging writers; educational initiatives that enrich the lives of children and adults; and a subscription model and audience outreach programs that cultivate and engage all audiences.

Roundabout Theatre Company presents a variety of plays, musicals, and new works on its five stages, each of which is specifically designed to enhance the needs of Roundabout's mission. Off-Broadway, the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, which houses the Laura Pels Theatre and Black Box Theatre, with its simple sophisticated design, is perfectly suited to showcasing new works. The grandeur of its Broadway home on 42nd Street, American Airlines Theatre, sets the ideal stage for the classics. Roundabout's Studio 54 provides an exciting and intimate Broadway venue for its musical and special event productions. The Stephen Sondheim Theatre offers a state of the art LEED certified Broadway theatre in which to stage major large-scale musical revivals. Together these distinctive homes serve to enhance Roundabout's work on each of its stages.

American Airlines is the official airline of Roundabout Theatre Company. Roundabout productions are supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Roundabout's season in 2017 includes Arthur Miller's The Price, directed by Terry Kinney; If I Forget by Steven Levenson, directed by Daniel Sullivan; Marvin's Room by Scott McPherson, directed by Anne Kauffman; Napoli, Brooklyn by Meghan Kennedy, directed by Gordon Edelstein; and the national tour of Sam Mendes & Rob Marshall's Tony Award-winning production of Cabaret. The spring 2017 Roundabout Underground production is On the Exhale, a new play by Marti?n Zimmerman, directed by Leigh Silverman.

Roundabout's new off-Broadway season dedicated to new work at the Harold & Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre in 2017-2018 will include The Last Match, by Anna Ziegler, directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch; Amy and the Orphans, by Lindsey Ferrentino, directed by Scott Ellis; Skintight, by Joshua Harmon, directed by Daniel Aukin.

Roundabout Underground's 2017-2018 season will include Too Heavy for your Pocket, by Jireh Breon Holder. www.roundabouttheatre.org