The West Coast premiere of Good People by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire will open at the Geffen Playhouse in April of 2011 as part of the theater's 11/12 season. The 2010 Tony Award nominee for Best Play joins the following previously announced productions in the Gil Cates Theater at the Geffen Playhouse: Pulitzer Prize nominee The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Kristoffer Diaz, Tony Award nominee Next Fall by Geoffrey Nauffts, Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins featuring Kathleen Turner and the world premiere of The Exorcist by Edgar Award winner John Pielmeier.
For the first time, the Geffen Playhouse will offer subscriptions including productions in the intimate Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater. Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan is now attached to direct Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie, a world premiere by actor/writer Alan Alda, which is set to open in November of 2011. The "Audrey" season also includes the world premiere of The Jacksonian, a new work by Pulitzer Prize winner Beth Henley, featuring Ed Harris, Glenne Headly, Amy Madigan and Bill Pullman.
The complete Geffen Playhouse 11/12 season includes:
THE Gil Cates THEATER AT THE Geffen Playhouse
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (West Coast Premiere)
Written by Kristoffer Diaz
Directed by Edward Torres
Run: August 30 - October 9, 2011
Opening Night: September 7, 2011
Think pro-wrestling is all outrageous masks and pyrotechnics? Think again - there's so much more in this 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist. This West Coast premiere slams together thrilling spectacle, incredible characters and geopolitical allegory into an invigorating theatrical experience you can't find on pay-per-view. This smack-down of a play tackles racism, drop-kicks globalization, and brings this championship tale into the ring. In wrestling, as in life, behind every winner lies the story of a really excellent loser.
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity had its world premiere in 2009 at
Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago before
moving to
Second Stage in New York. Both productions were directed by
Edward Torres, who will also be helming the
Geffen Playhouse production. This West Coast premiere will allow both playwright and director to delve deeper into this still new work, which has already been lauded with the 2011 New York Times Play Prize, the Obie Award for Best New American Play and the
Lucille Lortel Award for Best New Play.
Next Fall (West Coast Premiere)
Written by: Geoffrey Nauffts
Directed by: Sheryl Kaller
Run: October 25 - December 4, 2011
Opening Night: November 2, 2011
Next Fall, which has already won widespread critical acclaim (nominations for the 2010 Tony Award for Best Play, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Broadway Play) makes its West Coast debut at the
Geffen Playhouse with the original New York director,
Sheryl Kaller. Adam and Luke seem like a case of opposites attract - Adam is older, neurotic and an atheist; Luke is impulsive, a struggling actor, and a devout Christian. After Luke is involved in a critical accident, family and friends descend upon the couple and these longtime differences collide, forcing opposing views on faith and family into a stand-off. As timely as it is touching, this must-see play exposes the fundamental truth that we love people both because of - and in spite of - who they are.
Next Fall had its world premiere at
Naked Angels Theater in New York in 2009 before transferring to the Helen Hayes Theater on Broadway in 2010. While there have been subsequent regional productions, this will be the second production for original director
Sheryl Kaller and will give her the opportunity to explore the play with different artists.
Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins (West Coast Premiere)
Written by: Margaret Engel & Allison Engel
Directed by: David Esbjornson
Run: January 3 - February 12, 2012
Opening Night: January 11, 2012
Two-time Tony and Oscar nominee
Kathleen Turner sizzles as Molly Ivins, the brassy Texan reporter whose liberal journalism skyrocketed her to the national stage. From writing
Elvis Presley's New York Times obituary to becoming the most widely-read self-proclaimed "pain in the ass to whatever powers come to be," Ivins - often described as a modern-day
Mark Twain - made rabid fans and enemies alike with her sharp-tongued humor and unabashed political criticism. This acclaimed one-woman show captures the red-headed reporter's indomitable character by weaving personal anecdotes with her colorful take on national politics.
Red Hot Patriot had its world premiere at
Philadelphia Theatre Company directed by
David Esbjornson and featuring
Kathleen Turner.
Good People (West Coast Premiere)
Run: April 3 - May 13, 2012
Opening Night: April 11, 2012
Margaret Walsh can't catch a break. Laid off from her job at the dollar store, South Boston is providing her the same level of opportunity it always has: none. Wry, rough around
The Edges and ready to make a change, she goes to seek out the one who got away - both from "Southie" and from her. Instead, she finds herself in the burbs and out of her element, facing the question - is opportunity granted or earned? Nominated for a 2010 Tony Award for Best Play, Pulitzer Prize winner
David Lindsay-Abaire's Good People takes an affectionate look at the ‘haves' and ‘have nots' through the eyes of characters who won't be ignored.
Good People was commissioned by
Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) in New York where it had its world premiere in the spring of 2011.
The Exorcist (World Premiere)
Written by: John Pielmeier
Adapted from the book by: William Peter Blatty
Directed by: John Doyle
Run: July 3 - August 12, 2012
Opening Night: July 11, 2012
This world premiere adaptation of the famous 1971 novel documenting the terror and redemption of a ten-year old girl remains as frightening and relevant as when we first experienced it. Under the direction of Tony Award winner
John Doyle and adapted by acclaimed playwright
John Pielmeier (Agnes of God), The Exorcist transforms the unsettling battles of good versus evil, faith versus fact and ego versus ethos into a uniquely theatrical experience as sophisticated as it is suspenseful.
The
Geffen Playhouse production marks the world premiere.
THE AUDREY SKIRBALL KENIS THEATER AT THE Geffen Playhouse
Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie (World Premiere)
Written by: Alan Alda
Directed by: Daniel Sullivan
Run: November 1 - December 11, 2011
Opening Night: November 9, 2011
This world premiere play by acclaimed actor/writer
Alan Alda delves into the life and romance of one of the most brilliant female scientists in history. Famous for her groundbreaking research in radioactivity, Curie was the only person ever to win two Nobel Prizes in multiple sciences, but not without a struggle. For all the answers that came to her in the lab, Curie's life is peppered with questions of how to realize the passion she has for both knowledge and love. Celebrated but then rejected by the popular press as both a woman and scientist, Curie is left to define her place in society - and history - on her own terms.
Helmed by Tony Award winner
Daniel Sullivan, the
Geffen Playhouse production marks the world premiere.
The Jacksonian (World Premiere)
Written by: Beth Henley
Directed by: Robert Falls
Run: January 31 - March 11, 2012
This eerie offering by Pulitzer Prize winner
Beth Henley transports us to a seedy motel in Jackson, Mississippi circa 1964. The Jacksonian Cottages is where you go to bury your secrets, but the motel is an unsettling world unto itself where subversive becomes commonplace and the passage of time becomes hauntingly unpredictable. Revolving around the night of a murder, The Jacksonian is a surreal trip that is rife with disturbingly dark humor. As this salacious tale's mysterious events unfold, both characters and audience find themselves on a road that ultimately leads to a dead end.
This world premiere production unites acclaimed Tony Award winning director Bob Falls with a formidable ensemble cast, which currently includes Ed Harris, Glenne Headly, Amy Madigan and Bill Pullman, which one more role still to be announced.
Five play subscriptions to the 2011-12 Gil Cates Theater season are available by calling 310.208.2028. Prices range from $170 to $345 per subscription. More information on the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater plays and season and additional subscription packages can be found at http://geffenplayhouse.com/newseason.
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