SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS to Launch Long Wharf's 2017-18 Season

Long Wharf Theatre and Eva Price will present the opening of the 2017-2018 National Tour of the Obie Award-winning Small Mouth Sounds, by Bess Wohl, directed by Tony-nominee Rachel Chavkin (Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812).

Performances begin on August 30 and will run through September 24, 2017 at Long Wharf Theatre, Stage II (222 Sargent Drive, New Haven, CT). Tickets prices begin at $29. The press opening will take place on Wednesday, September 6 at 7:30 pm.

In the overwhelming quiet of the woods, six runaways from city life embark on a silent retreat. As these strangers confront internal demons both profound and absurd, their vows of silence collide with the achingly human need to connect. Filled with awkward and insightful humor, Small Mouth Sounds is the unique and compassionate new play that asks how we address life's biggest questions when words fail us.

The newly announced cast includes Connor Barrett (Jan), Ben Beckley (Ned), Edward Chin-Lyn (Rodney), Orville Mendoza (Teacher), Brenna Palughi (Alicia), Socorro Santiago (Joan), and Cherene Snow (Judy).

The original design team of Small Mouth Sounds returns for the national tour and includes Obie-winner Laura Jellinek (Scenic Design), Tilly Grimes (Costume Design), Mike Inwood (Lighting Design), Lortel- nominee Stowe Nelson (Sound Design), Andrew Schneider(Projection Design), and Noah Mease (Prop Design). Chavkin and the designers will restage the production, originally performed in traverse, for a proscenium setting.

The inspiration from the play came from Wohl's own personal experience. Surrounded by people who were looking for a way for their lives to be changed or healed, Wohl decided that this was fertile subject matter for a play. "What I loved about that for a play is that what's necessary for any play is that all the characters really need something. This is such a great environment: a play where there is this automatic need," Wohl said in an interview. "I think the central question of the play is should we seek peace or not, and if so, how?" Obie Award-winner Chavkin told Slant Magazine in a 2016 interview.

Small Mouth Sounds played a record-breaking run at Ars Nova in 2015 and an acclaimed and extended commercial production at the Pershing Square Signature Center's Romulus Linney Theater in 2016. Small Mouth Sounds is booked for 24 weeks in multiple cities, making it one of the longest tours for an Off Broadway show of this size in recent memory.

The New York Times called Small Mouth Sounds "an enchanting new play... as funny as it is quietly moving... a model of ingenuity" and the show was chosen as a "Best Of" Theater Pick in the New York Times, New York Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Post, and many more.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit longwharf.org or call 203-787-4282.
For more information on additional cities and about the Small Mouth Sounds National Tour, visit www.smallmouthsounds.com.

The current National Tour Schedule is as follows:

New Haven, CT
August 29 - September 24, 2017
Long Wharf Theatre

San Francisco, CA
October 11 - December 10. 2017
American Conservatory Theatre

Santa Monica, CA
January 11 - January 28, 2018
Broad Stage

Dallas, TX
February 1 - February, 11, 2018
AT&T Performing Arts Center

Miami, FL
February 16 - March 4, 2018
Arsht Center

Philadelphia, PA
March 13 - April 1, 2018
Philadelphia Theatre Company

Long Wharf Theatre began in the unlikeliest of places in the unlikeliest of ways. Located in a food terminal facing the New Haven Harbor, the theatre's original founders, Jon Jory and Harlan Kleiman, shared the dream of starting a resident professional theatre company in New Haven.

Beginning its 53rd season, Long Wharf Theatre is an organization of international renown producing an annual season of six plays on its two stages, along with children's programming, new play workshops and a variety of special events.

Under the watch of Arvin Brown and Edgar Rosenblum for over 30 years, Long Wharf Theatre established itself as an important force in the regional theatre movement. Under the current leadership of Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Managing Director Joshua Borenstein, Long Wharf Theatre continues to be a leader in American theatre, revitalizing classic and modern plays for a contemporary audience, discovering new resonance in neglected works and premiering new plays by new voices that both investigate and celebrate the unique circumstances of our time.

Throughout its history, Long Wharf Theatre has created a unique home in New Haven for theatre artists from around the world, resulting in the transfer of more than 30 Long Wharf productions to Broadway or Off-Broadway, some of which include Napoli Brooklyn, The Glass Menagerie, My Name is Asher Lev, Satchmo at the Waldorf, Wit (Pulitzer Prize), The Shadow Box (Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award/Best Play), Hughie, American Buffalo, Requiem for a Heavyweight, Quartermaine's Terms (Obie Award/Best Play), The Gin Game (Pulitzer Prize), The Changing Room, The Contractor, and Streamers.

Long Wharf Theatre has received New York Drama Critics Awards, Obie Awards, the Margo Jefferson Award for Production of New Works, a Special Citation from the Outer Critics Circle and the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1978.

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