Smith's 'Good Heif' World Premieres at New Georges 10/6

New Georges, the OBIE-winning downtown theater company founded in 1992, will present the world premiere of American playwright Maggie Smith's peculiar fable Good Heif, a full-length play, directed by Sarah Cameron Sunde. Good Heif will be presented in SoHo at the Ohio Theatre. Previews begin October 6, and the official Opening Night will be Monday, October 8 at 7PM. Performances will run through Saturday, October 27.

"The play, set in a hot, dry landscape, where life is nothing but 'diggin' and eatin' and prayin' and sleepin',' finds Lad who's astonished by the arrival of his manhood," explain press note, "The men of the town laugh at his questions, respond with useless remedies and outsize alarm, and his Pa's advice just won't do. He's forced to wonder whether the devil got into him or whether it's just the lure of what's "over thar?" Against a backdrop of entrenched fear and immobility, Smith's stimulating and provocative new drama has found a way to talk about the danger of ignorance, the necessity of change, and how instruments of community propriety hold fear in place and keep societies, even the smallest ones, in check."

Maggie Smith is perhaps best known to date for her play Henrietta Hermaline's Fall from Great Heights, a one-act, that was first presented in New York City by Youngblood, Ensemble Studio Theatre's group for emerging playwrights, in their Thicker Than Water 2006 lineup. Her work has also been presented at New Jersey Dramatists, New Dramatists, The Arc Theatre, DIG, and The Purple Rose. She is the co-founder of the Umbrella Grottesco Theatre, a New Orleans-based Commedia dell'Arte street performance company, with whom she has written and performed.

Director Sarah Cameron Sunde directed and translated the US Premiere of Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse's Night Sings Its Songs at The Culture Project at 45 Bleecker in 2004. This production marked the first time Fosse, Norway's preeminent playwright, had been presented in the United States. Subsequently, in 2006, she directed and translated his death-variations when it was presented at 59E59 Theaters in rep with Ibsen's Rosmersholm.

The six member acting company will include: Paul Klementowicz (Burly Man), April Matthis (Ol'Heif), John McAdams (Pa), Barbara Pitts (Ma), Yves Rene (Old Man), and Christopher Ryan Richards (Lad). The design team includes Lauren Helpern (sets), Olivera Gajic (costumes), Juliet Chia (lighting) and Katie Down (sound).

The Ohio Theatre is located at 66 Wooster Street (between Spring and Broome Streets)

The complete performance schedule for Good Heif (October 6 through October 27) will be: Wednesdays through Mondays at 8PM (except Opening Night, Monday, October 8 at 7PM and Saturdays, October 20 & 27 at 7PM & 10PM). There will be another additional performance on Saturday, October 6 at 4PM.

Tickets will be $20. Students and seniors will be $15. Monday night performances are "pay-what-you-will" at the door only. TDF vouchers will be accepted. The box office for reservations is 212-868-4444 or www.smarttix.com. For more information and group rates call 646-336-8077 or visit www.newgeorges.com.

Photo by Carol Rosegg: Barbara Pitts and Christopher Ryan Richards

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