The Actors Company Theatre Kicks Off 2016-17 Season With Revival of SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER

TACT (Scott Alan Evans, Artistic Executive Director; Nora Chester, Associate Artistic Director; Jeffrey C. Hawkins, Associate Artistic Director) today began rehearsals for the cast for a rare NY revival of Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops To Conquer, which will kick off the theatre's 2016 - '17 season.

TACT Artistic Director Scott Alan Evans will direct the production featuring performances from Jeremy Beck* (Widowers' Houses), Cynthia Darlow* (Beyond Therapy), Mairin Lee (The Heiress), James Prendergast* (Happy Birthday), Tony Roach*(Bright Star), John Rothman (Prelude to a Kiss), Justine Salata*(Lovers), and Richard Thieriot* (Clybourne Park). (*Indicates TACT company member).

She Stoops To Conquer will mark the seventh time that TACT has moved a play from its Salon Series to the Mainstage program.

This classic 18th century British comedy, in which a mismatched love comes to rights when a strong young woman lowers the stakes, features heightened language, timeless humor, and great heart. TACT's production will take a fresh streamlined look at this enduring play in a new adaptation that will include some daring audience participation. She Stoops To Conquer will feature set design by Brett Banakis (Big Love), lighting design by Mary Louise Geiger (The Constant Wife), and costume design by Tracy Christiansen (HBO's "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill").

All performances will take place at the Clurman Theatre at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues), where TACT has been a resident company since 2006. Preview performances will begin on October 4th and the production will open on October 16th. The show will run for 35 performances until November 5th.

She Stoops to Conquer is one of two Mainstage productions TACT will be presenting this season. In the spring, TACT will present the World Premiere of The Gravedigger's Lullaby, a play that arrives at the Mainstage by way of TACT's 2015 newTACTics New Play Festival where it was originally workshopped and developed. Written by TACT company member and inaugural Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award winner Jeff Talbott and directed by former TACT Artistic Director and current company member Jenn Thompson, the play tells the powerful story of Baylen, a hardworking gravedigger fighting to feed his family in a world that threatens to bury him. The Gravedigger's Lullaby will begin preview performances at Theatre Row's Beckett Theatre on Tuesday February 28th, 2017 and will open on Sunday March 12th for a strictly limited run through Saturday April 1st. The cast and creative team for The Gravedigger's Lullaby will be announced at a later date.

TACT is a company of theatre artists that reveals, reclaims, and re-imagines great plays of literary merit, creating an intimate theatre experience for its audience by focusing on the text and the actor's ability to bring it to life. From the beginning, TACT made its reputation with its Concert Performance productions: fully rehearsed presentations stripped down to their essence. Staged in that intimate studio space, these performances (currently known as the Salon Series) feature simple staging, costuming, and lighting, refocusing the emphasis of the drama away from spectacle and production and back to the words and the actor - creating theatre in its purest form. This style grew out of the belief that the true magic of theatre lies in the special connection between the artist, the work of art, and the fully engaged audience. TACT was named "Company of the Year" by The Wall Street Journal in 2012 and is a long time resident company of NYC's famed Theatre Row where they produce their Mainstage Off-Broadway productions. In addition, TACT presents the Salon Series and newTACTics in their studio space at 900 Broadway. Both spaces allow audiences to enjoy an up-close and personal experience with both the play and the artists.

She Stoops to Conquer will take place at the Clurman Theatre at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10thAvenues). Performance will be Tuesdays at 7pm, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, with matinee performances on Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm. All tickets are $64.25, including a $2.25 restoration fee. Tickets are also available through various TACT subscription packages which start at $70.

Tickets are on sale NOW! To purchase tickets, go to Telecharge.com or call 212/239-6200 or visit the Theatre Row Box Office (410 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues).

For more information on She Stoops to Conquer and on how to become a subscribing member, visit TACT on the web at tactnyc.org or call 212-645-8228.