Photo Flash: Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum's OLEANNA

A gripping account of a power struggle between a male university professor (Pullman) and one of his female students (Stiles), "Oleanna" will be presented at the Taper in association with Jeffrey Finn and features set design by Neil Patel, costume design by Catherine Zuber and lighting design by Donald Holder. The production stage manager is Charles Means.

With a major career in stage, film and television, Bill Pullman is perhaps best known for his roles in the films "Independence Day," "Lost Highway," "Sleepless in Seattle," "Ruthless People," "While You Were Sleeping," "The Grudge," "Spaceballs," "Scary Movie 4" and the recent "Bottle Shock" and "Noble Son." On stage, Pullman received a 2002 Drama Desk Award nomination when he starred opposite Mercedes Ruehl in Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning "The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?" on Broadway, and a second Drama Desk nomination for his appearance in Albee's "Peter and Jerry" in 2007 at Second Stage in New York. He was also nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for the 2006 Kennedy Center production of "The Subject Was Roses."

Julia Stiles earned rave reviews in a previous production of "Oleanna" in London's West End in 2004. She began her career in the theatre at a young age in New York City and her additional stage credits include the 2002 Shakespeare in the Park production of "Twelfth Night" as Viola, James Lapine's "Fran's Bed" at Playwrights Horizons and "The Vagina Monologues." She made her cinematic debut at age 15 in "I Love You, I Love You Not" with Claire Danes. She followed this with many films, most notably, "10 Things I Hate About You," "Save the Last Dance," "Mona Lisa Smiles," two David Mamet films - "State and Main" and "Edmond," and the three Bourne movies - "The Bourne Identity," "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Bourne Ultimatum."

David Mamet is the author of numerous plays including "Glengarry GLen Ross" (1984 Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics Circle Award, 2005 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play), "American Buffalo," "Boston Marriage," "Romance" (which was presented at the Taper in 2005), "Keep Your Pantheon" and "The Duck Variations" (presented at CTG's Kirk Douglas Theatre in 2008 as "Two Unrelated Plays by David Mamet"), "November," and "Speed-The-Plow." He has written the screenplays for such films as "The Verdict," "The Untouchables" and "Wag the Dog," and has twice been nominated for an Academy Award. He has written and directed 10 films including "Homicide," "The Spanish Prisoner," "State and Main," "House of Games," "Spartan" and "Redbelt." He is co-creator and executive producer of the CBS television series "The Unit," and is a Founding Member of The Atlantic Theater Company.

Doug Hughes won the 2005 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Lortel and Callaway Awards for his direction of John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Doubt." His other Broadway credits include "A Man for All Seasons," "Mauritius" and "Inherit the Wind" (Tony nomination). His many off-Broadway productions include "The Grey One" (Obie Award), "Flesh and Blood" (Callaway Award), "Farragut North," "Howard Katz" and "The Paris Letter," and he has also directed numerous productions for most of the nation's leading theatre companies. He is resident director of New York's Roundabout Theatre Company and in 2005 he won an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence.

Tickets for "Oleanna" start at $20 and are available by calling (213) 628-2772 or online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org or in person at the CTG box office located at the Ahmanson Theatre at the Music Center.

Center Theatre Group, a non-profit organization, is one of the largest and most active theatre companies in the nation, programming subscription seasons year-round at the 739-seat Mark Taper Forum and the 1,600 to 2,000-seat Ahmanson Theatre at the Music Center of Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City.

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