TRW Plays Acquires GOOD NIGHT, OSCAR and DOWNSTATE

TRW Plays, a division of Theatrical Rights Worldwide, has acquired the global licensing rights for two new plays by Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, the Broadway hit GOOD NIGHT, OSCAR by Doug Wright and DOWNSTATE by Bruce Norris, with acclaimed runs Off Broadway and in London.

GOOD NIGHT, OSCAR

Doug Wright’s GOOD NIGHT, OSCAR premiered at The Goodman Theatre in Chicago on March 12, 2022, directed by Lisa Peterson and starring Sean Hayes as Oscar Levant, the American composer, pianist, author, actor and more. This comedic drama is a fictionalized version of real-life events, taking place in 1958 when Levant, addicted to prescription drugs, gets a four-hour furlough from his psychiatric hospital to allow him to appear on The Tonight Show, then hosted by Jack Parr. The play then opened April 24, 2023, at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway and was nominated for three Tony Awards, with Sean Hayes winning for Best Actor.

DOWNSTATE

Bruce Norris’ DOWNSTATE was first produced at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago on September 20, 2018, directed by Pam MacKinnon, before making its UK premiere at London’s National Theatre, where it was nominated for the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play. It opened Off Broadway on October 22, 2022, at Playwrights Horizon and went on to win the 2023 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play and an OBIE Award for Playwriting. The play is set in downstate Illinois, where four convicted sex offenders live in a group home when a man arrives to confront his childhood abuser. Norris wrestles with the limits of forgiveness in this gripping drama.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to bring these extraordinary authors and their new shows to our expanding catalog of great plays,” said TRW Vice President Craig Pospisil. "We look forward to licensing DOWNSTATE and GOOD NIGHT, OSCAR to theaters and producers across the country and internationally."