Theatre for a New Audience Presents FEFU AND HER FRIENDS

Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA; Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director) presents Fefu and Her Friends, one of the most beloved plays of the late, nine-time Obie Award-winning Cuban-American playwright and director María Irene Fornés. Lileana Blain-Cruz, winner of two Obie Awards (Suzan-Lori Parks' The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World and Jackie Sibblies Drury's Marys Seacole) stages the play in her TFANA directing debut, the first Off-Broadway revival of Fefu and Her Friends since American Place Theatre's 1978 staging. Fefu plays on the Samuel H. Scripps Mainstage at TFANA's home, Polonsky Shakespeare Center (262 Ashland Place, Brooklyn), November 16-December 8, 2019.

Fefu and Her Friends tells the story of what happens when a group of articulate, idiosyncratic women gather in Fefu's New England country house in 1935 to rehearse for a charity event. Their conversations evolve and become intimate dialogues commenting on gender, sex, psychology, and class. A modern classic of both feminist and environmental theater, Fefu and Her Friends runs approximately 90 minutes with no intermission. Part I begins with the audience together. In Part II, the audience splits into four groups that move around the auditorium each experiencing the story in a different setting in a different order. In Part III, the audience comes back together. Fornés' play-humor-laced, unsettling, and wrenching-allows the audience to see this fascinatingly enigmatic gathering via multiple perspectives.

Fefu and Her Friends features Brittany Bradford (Bernhardt/Hamlet on Broadway, Merrily We Roll Along with Roundabout/Fiasco) as Julia, Juliana Canfield (He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box at TFANA, "Succession") as Christina, Helen Cespedes (The Cripple of Inishmaan on Broadway, Red Bull Theater's The School for Scandal) as Emma, Jennifer Lim (Chinglish on Broadway, Usual Girls at Roundabout) as Cindy, Ronete Levenson (Lascivious Something with Women's Project, Our Town at Barrow Street Theater) as Sue, Lindsay Rico (Alligator) with Sol Project/New Georges, Song for a Future Generation at Williamstown Theatre Festival) as Paula, Amelia Workman (The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World AKA the Negro Book of the Dead with Signature Theater, Coriolanus with The Public the Delacorte) as Fefu, and Carmen Zilles (Little Women with Primary Stages, Scenes from a Marriage at New York Theatre Workshop) as Cecilia. The creative team includes Adam Rigg (Set Design), Montana Levi Blanco (Costume Design), Jane Cox (Lighting Design), Palmer Hefferan (Sound Design), and Andrew Diaz (Props Supervisor).

Lileana Blain-Cruz says: "María Irene Fornés is a titan of the American theater, and it truly is an honor to be directing Fefu and Her Friends not only because she's influenced so many important artists, but because she revolutionized what theater could be. The depth and complexity of this play requires an exhilarating participation between artist and audience and is one of the most exciting theatrical challenges I've ever encountered."

Jeffrey Horowitz says: "TFANA is dedicated to engaging with and expanding the canon of world drama. María Irene Fornés is one of America's greatest dramatists and we are proud to celebrate her."

Performances of Fefu and Her Friends will take place November 16-December 8 at 7:30pm on Tuesday-Sundays, and 2:00pm on Saturdays and Sundays, except for November 16 and November 17. There is no performance on Thursday, November 28 (Thanksgiving).

Tickets are on sale now at www.tfana.org, 866.811.4111, and the Polonsky Shakespeare Center box office. Polonsky Shakespeare Center is located at 262 Ashland Place, Brooklyn, NY 11217.

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