Laguna Playhouse Announces HEISENBERG

Laguna Playhouse presents a co-production with the Rubicon Theatre Company, HEISENBERG, written by Simon Stephens (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) directed by Katherine Farmer (South Pacific, Gulf View Drive) and starring Faline England (Valentine's Day) & Joe Spano (Hill Street Blues and NCIS).

Comments Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham and Executive Director Ellen Richard, "What a special opportunity to co-produce this critically acclaimed production with the Rubicon Theatre Company. Simon Stephens has written a funny, tender and quirky love story that celebrates human relationships in all their complexity. Faline England and Joe Spano are giving masterful performances under the brilliant direction of the gifted Katharine Farmer. Our subscribers and audiences are sure to fall in love with this wonderful and extraordinary play."

HEISENBERG begins previews on Wednesday, March 27; will open on Sunday, March 31 at 5:30pm and perform through Sunday, April 14, 2019 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Drive in Laguna Beach.

In a bustling London train station free-spirited American Georgie unexpectedly plants a kiss on the neck of mid-70s British butcher Alex. When she turns up in his shop a few days later, she sets the suspicious man's world reeling. As Alex is drawn into Georgie's anarchic world, his conventional life becomes chaotic, uncertain, and undeniably richer. Peeling away the many layers of everyday relationships with subtle humor and quiet poeticism, HEISENBERG brings to poignant theatrical life the uncertain and often comical sparring match that is human connection.

ABOUT THE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM

Simon Stephens (Playwright) His plays have been produced in many languages throughout the world. Stephens won the Tony Award for his adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which premiered at the National Theatre in London in 2012 under the direction of Marianne Elliott. In its initial run, the show tied for the most Olivier Awards in history (seven). The production was broadcast live to cinemas worldwide in September of that year, transferring to the West End in 2013. Curious... opened on Broadway in 2014, winning five Tony Awards including Best Play, multiple Drama Desk Awards and a Theatre World Award. The show ran for two years (nearly 800 performances). Stephens began his theatrical career in the literary department of The Royal Court Theatre, where many of his productions have since premiered: Bluebird, Herons, Country Music, Motortown,Wastwater, and Birdland. Harper Regan and Bluebird were staged in New York at the Atlantic Theater Company. His play Punk Rock was staged by MCC. His version of A Doll's House for the Young Vic transferred to New York in 2014. In addition to Tony and Olivier Awards for Curious..., Stephens received the Pearson Award for Best New Play for Port, the Olivier Award for Best New Play for On the Shore of the Wide World, and was voted Best Foreign Playwright by German critics in Theater Heute's annual poll.

KATHARINE FARMER (Director) is a London-based artist who has been Rubicon's Director of International Programming for the past three years. At the Rubicon, she recently directed an intimate version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific. She has received two Best Director nominations at the Ovation Awards, and her production of Gulf View Drive by Arlene Hutton won Best Production of a Play, Larger Theatre, at the 2017 ceremony. Other Rubicon credits include the West Coast Premiere of Incognito by Nick Payne, plus See Rock City and Last Train to Nibroc, also by Hutton (the latter presented at the Bermuda Festival). Elsewhere, Farmer directed 23.5 Hours by Carey Crim at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre; Kiss Me by Richard Bean at Wardrobe Theatre/The Other Palace Theatre in the UK; Silent Meat by David Levelsey at The Pleasance in London; Pig Farm by Greg Kotis at the St. James Theatre in London; an adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest at the Dominion Theatre in London which raised £155,000 for the Duchenne Medical Research Fund; Glamping by Carey Crim (Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival); Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee (WSAF, University of Warwick); and Look Back in Angerby John Osborne (WUDS, Loft Theatre). Credits as Assistant Director include Dracula by Liz Lochead at Loco Klub, Bristol UK (dir. John Walton); Sleeping Beauty at Theatre Clywd, Wales (dir. Zoe Waterman); Lonesome Traveler by James O'Neil at 59E59 Theater NYC (dir. James O'Neil); The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown (dir. Stephanie Coltrin at Rubicon); Wiesenthal by Tom Dugan at Theatre Row NYC (dir. Jenny Sullivan); Conviction by Carey Crim at Rubicon (dir. Scott Schwartz); and Scenes from a Marriage at St. James Theatre, London (dir. Sir Trevor Nunn).

Faline England (Georgie) performed on the Rubicon stage in the role of Georgie, having previously appeared in Gulf View Drive (OvationAward, Best Production of a Play, Larger Theatre/Ovation nomination, Best Supporting Actress), Crimes of the Heart (IndyAward),Turn of the Screw (OvationNomination, Best Production of a Play, Larger Theatre), and All My Sons, (Ovation Award, Best Production of a Play, Larger Theatre/Ovation nomination, Best Supporting Actress). Her stage credits include Julius Caesar with Shakespeare Center L.A., Carry the World: Women and Peace with Creative Visions, Twelfth Night (IndyAward), Chicago (Indy Award), The Rover (Indy Award),The Three Sisters, Playboy of the Western World, The Changeling, and The Tavern. Other credits include Heartbreak House and The Tempestwith Theatre Artist's Group, Finnegan's Wake with Santa Barbara Dance Theatre, Purge! with James Donlon & Co., and All in the Timing at Western Stage. England co-wrote, produced, and starred in the two-person show Flayjennnie Eroticus: A Documentary (Indy Award). Television credits include "Criminal Minds," "The Mentalist," "Nip/Tuck," "CSI," "Numb3rs," "Medium," and "Without a Trace."

Joe Spano (Alex) has appeared at Rubicon in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, The Sunset Limited,Shaw'sThe Devil's Disciple, Sylvia, Waiting for Godot, R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe (Ovation nomination) and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Ovation nomination/Indy Award). Other West Coast credits include David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow and American Buffalo, for which he received an L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award; School for Scandal, Speed the Plow and A Chorus of Disapproval at South Coast Rep; Bill Cain's Equivocation at The Geffen Playhouse; Jessica Goldberg's Better at the Echo; and The Guys at Berkeley Rep, where he is a founding member. Spano made his Broadway debut in the Roundabout Theatre production of Arthur Miller's The Price with Hector Elizondo and Eli Wallach, which was nominated for a Tony for Best Revival. He has appeared in thirty feature films, including "Apollo 13" working alongside Tom Hanks; "Primal Fear" with Richard Gere and Edward Norton, "Hart's War," "American Graffiti," "Hollywoodland," "Fracture" and "Frost/Nixon." Series TV credits include Special FBI Agent T. C. Fornell on "NCIS" (now in its 15th year), Lt. Henry Goldblume on "Hill Street Blues" (Emmy nomination) and "Mercy Point," "Amazing Grace," "Murder One" and "NYPD Blue." Spano won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for "Midnight Caller."

The Design Team for HEISENBERG is as follows: Scenic and Lighting Design by Mike Billings; Sound Design by Jessie Vacchiano; Costume Design by Michael Mullensand the Production Stage Manager is Jessie Vacchiano.

The season is generously underwritten by The Hale Family.

HEISENBERG will begin previews on Wednesday, March 27; will open on Sunday, March 31 at 5:30pm and perform through Sunday, April 14, 2019 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Drive in Laguna Beach.

Performances will be Wednesdays through Fridays at 7:30pm; Saturdays at 2pm & 7:30pm; Sundays at 1:00pm. There will be added performances on Thursday, March 28 at 2pm; Tuesday, April 2 at 7:30pm; Sunday, April 7 at 5:30pm and Thursday, April 11 at 2pm.

Tickets range from $56 - $86 and can be purchased online at www.lagunaplayhouse.com or by calling (949) 497-ARTS (2787). Group discounts are available by calling 949-497-2787 ext. 229. Prices subject to change.

The box office is open Mondays - Saturdays: 11a.m. to 5p.m.; Sundays: 11a.m. - 4p.m. (open until showtime on all performance days).

For more information on all shows and programming visit www.lagunaplayhouse.com. Laguna Playhouse is located at 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

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