Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' APPROPRIATE Begins This Week at Mark Taper Forum

Award-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' biting new comedic drama, APPROPRIATE, begins previews Wednesday, September 23, 2015, at 8 p.m. at the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum. Opening is set for Sunday, October 4 at 7 p.m. and performances continue through November 1.

Directed by Eric Ting, the cast includes Robert Beitzel ("Our Town," Barrow Street Theatre; "Women or Nothing," Atlantic Theater), David Bishins ("The Glass House" and "Catch-22," off-Broadway), Melora Hardin (Amazon's "Transparent"; "Chicago," Broadway), Grace Kaufman ("Coney Island Christmas," Geffen; "The Last Ship," TNT), Zarah Mahler ("Soul Doctor," Broadway; "Stupid F**king Bird," Boston Court), Will Tranfo (the films "Ennui" and "Bastard"), Missy Yager ("Diary of Anne Frank," Broadway; "This is Our Youth," off-Broadway) and newcomers Liam Blair Askew and Alexander James Rodriguez.

APPROPRIATE is directed by Obie Award-winner Eric Ting, who was recently named the new artistic director of California Shakespeare Theater. Scenic design is by Mimi Lien, costume design is by Laura Bauer, lighting design is by Christopher Kuhl, sound design is by Matt Tierney, fight direction by Steve Rankin, casting by Meg Fister and Joy Meads serves as dramaturg. The production stage manager is David S. Franklin.

The sins of the forbearers echo throughout APPROPRIATE. As estranged family members convene in Arkansas to settle the patriarch's estate, they discover in the ruin and clutter of their crumbling plantation home an album filled with disturbing photos. Sparks fly when the siblings debate possible family ties to this unwanted legacy, and their tenuous reunion brings up old rivalries and family secrets that soon toss them all into a tailspin.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a two-time Obie Award-winner whose honors also include a Paula Vogel Award, a fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the inaugural Tennessee Williams Award. He is currently a Residency Five playwright at the Signature Theatre and a Lila Acheson Wallace fellow at the Juilliard School.

Eric Ting won an Obie Award for his direction of WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT A PRESENTATION... by Jackie Sibblies Drury (world premiere, Soho Rep/Victory Gardens). Ting is a founding member of the artists' collective Intelligent Beasts and a recipient of a MAP Fund Award with Meiyin Wang.

Tickets for APPROPRIATE are available by visiting www.CenterTheatreGroup.org or by calling (213) 628-2772. Tickets range from $25-$85 (ticket prices are subject to change). The Mark Taper Forum is located at the Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A., 90012.

Pictured: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins at the first rehearsal for his play APPROPRIATE. Photo by Craig Schwartz.

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