Tony Nominee Alex Timbers to Direct Robert Askins' Latest Play PERMISSION for MCC Theater

MCC THEATER has announced that 2-time Tony Award nominee Alex Timbers will direct Permission by playwright Robert Askins in his follow-up to Hand to God, an MCC Theater production from last season which just announced its plans for a Broadway bow in Spring 2015. These announcements come on the heels of the start of previews for Simon Stephens' Punk Rock, which begins on Wednesday, October 29th. Stephens is currently represented on Broadway by the critical smash hit The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. 3-Play Subscriptions for these productions are now available. For more information, please visit www.mcctheater.org.

Alex Timbers will direct the world premiere of Robert Askins' Permission, set for April 29 - June 7, 2015 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Timbers is a two-time Tony-nominated writer and director and the recipient of Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards, as well as two OBIE Awards. On Broadway, he co-directed Peter and the Starcatcher and directed and wrote the book for Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, among others. Off-Broadway, he has memorably directed Here Lies Love and Love's Labours Lost-both at The Public.

Permission marks the return of playwright Robert Askins to MCC Theater, where last season he debuted his critically-acclaimed Hand to God. In Permission, Eric and Cyndy are looking for some direction. They've decided to follow the lead of their friends Zach and Shelley and make Christian Domestic Discipline the foundation of their marriage. But restructuring their lives and their union according to role play and a new moral code upends everything they knew - and took for granted - about one another, their friends, and more importantly, who really holds the paddle! This new comedy explores our all-too-human impulse to make order out of the chaos of modern relationships.

As previously announced, film and TV star Douglas Smith, Pico Alexander, Lilly Englert, Lortel Award winner Annie Funke, Five-time Obie winner David Greenspan, Colby Minifie, Will Pullen, Noah Robbins and Sophie Shapiro, star in the New York premiere of Punk Rock, a new play by Simon Stephens and directed by Trip Cullman. Performances for Punk Rock begin at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on October 29, 2014. An official opening is set for November 17, 2014 and it is currently scheduled through December 7, 2014.

3-Play Subscriptions to the remainder of the 2014/2015 Season can currently be purchased at www.mcctheater.org.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride