VIDEO: Playwright Anne Washburn Says Sound Is Huge In Her New ANTILA PNEUMATICA

The last time playwright Anne Washburn was represented at Playwrights Horizons, MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY was the talk of the town with its cryptic story of a group of apocalyptic survivors climaxing with a SIMPSONS-based operetta.

The 2015 PEN/Laura Pels Award-winner says that talking may not be the main focus in her new one, ANTLIA PNEUMATICA.

"Sound is kind of huge in this play, which I think must have something to do with the fact that it was written on a silent playwriting retreat. Where there was no speech, suddenly my text was full of sound."

Listen to Washburn talk about the relationships of ANTLIA PNEUMATICA, with glimpses of the cast in rehearsal.

Playwrights Horizons' world premiere production of ANTILA PNEUMATICA, a new play by Anne Washburn, directed by two-time Obie Award winner Ken Rus Schmoll, began Friday, March 11 at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Opening Night is set for Monday, April 4 with a limited engagement through Sunday, April 24.

The cast features Obie Award winner Rob Campbell, Nat DeWolf, Crystal Finn, Obie Award winner April Matthis,Annie Parisse and Maria Striar.

Commissioned by Playwrights Horizons, ANTLIA PNEUMATICA is the fifth production of the theater company's 2015/2016 Season. In a ranch house deep in Texas Hill Country, a once tight-knit group of friends reunites to bury one of their own. But as they look backward through their lives, it becomes clear they've lost more than just their old pal. In this haunting new play from Anne Washburn, the boundaries between then and now grow disarmingly blurry as these estranged friends confront their slippery past.

The production will feature scenic design by Rachel Hauck, costume design by Jessica Pabst, lighting design by two-time Obie Award winner Tyler Micoleau, sound design by Leah Gelpe and original music by Daniel Kluger.