Soho Rep Extends AN OCTOROON Through 5/24

In response to popular demand and one week before performances begin, Soho Rep. extends the world premiere of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's An Octoroon, directed by Soho Rep. Artistic Director Sarah Benson, to May 24. Performances of An Octoroon will now take place April 23-May 24 (see schedule above) at Soho Rep. Critics are welcome as of Wednesday, April 30 for an official opening of Sunday, May 4 at 7:30pm.

In 1859, Dion Boucicault's The Octoroon opened at The Winter Garden Theatre in New York City and was quickly christened "the great dramatic sensation of the season." Seven companies toured the antebellum melodrama for years, making it second in popularity only to Uncle Tom's Cabin.

In the play, Judge Peyton is dead, and his plantation Terrebonne is in financial ruins. Peyton's handsome nephew George arrives as heir apparent, and quickly falls in love with Zoe, a beautiful "octoroon." But, the evil overseer M'Closky has other plans-for both Terrebonne and Zoe.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins collides the sensational plot and heightened theatrical gestures of Boucicault's original with contemporary language and dueling set of narrators. His An Octoroon is a piece that's firmly about us-here and now.

Soho Rep. is located at 46 Walker Street in Manhattan. Tickets for the original run (April 23-May 24) are $35/$50, tickets for the first extension (May 20-24) are $45/$70 and can be purchased by visiting sohorep.org or calling 212.352.3101. $0.99 Sunday tickets will be offered on April 27 and May 11 and are available first come, first served at the box office only. $30 general rush and $20 student rush (valid school ID) tickets are available at the box office one hour prior to curtain for each performance, no advance sales.

The cast of An Octoroon includes Shyko Amos as Grace; Jocelyn Bioh as Minnie; Marsha Stephanie Blake as Dido; Amber Gray as Zoe; Ben Horner as Assistant, Pete and Paul; Chris Myers as BJJ, George and M'Closky, Zoë Winters as Dora; and Danny Wolohan as Playwright, Wahnotee and Lafouche.

The creative team includes Mimi Lien (sets), Matt Frey (lights), Matt Tierney (sound), Wade Laboissonniere (costumes), Cookie Jordan (wigs and makeup), Jeff Sugg (projections) J. David Brimmer (fight director), David Neumann (choreography), César Alvarez (composer & music director), Noah Mease (props), Amanda Spooner (stage management) and Elizabeth Moreau (producer).

Funding for this production is provided, in part, by the Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation.

Jacobs-Jenkins is a 2008/09 alumni of the Soho Rep. Writer/Director lab and was a Dorothy Strelsin Fellow in 2009. Started in 1998 under the leadership if Daniel Aukin, the Writer/Director Lab fosters collaboration between early-career writers and directors who may not otherwise have an artistic home. Each year, up to five writers and directors are paired to create a new play. Over a 9-month period, the Lab meets regularly to read and respond to one another's work under the guidance of established mentors, now co-chairs Ken Russ Schmoll & Jenny Schwartz. The plays generated from the Lab are presented in a free public reading series each spring. As a Strelsin Fellow, Branden received an artistic stipend, open access to Soho Rep's offices and supplies, and two developmental workshops of An Octoroon