Strathairn and Giamatti Open Theatre Works' Season With 'Rivalry' 10/15

Paul Giamatti and David Strathairn will face off when L.A. Theatre Works records Norman Corwin's "The Rivalry" on October 15-19 at the Skirball Cultural Center.

It has been announced that joining previously announced David Strathairn as Abraham Lincoln and Paul Giamatti as Stephen A. Douglas in L.A. Theatre Works The Rivalry will be Lily Rabe (as Douglas's wife, Adele) and James Gleason.

David Strathairn and Paul Giamatti star as Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, rivals for the U.S. Senate - one a rising Illinois legislator and abolitionist candidate of the newly formed Republican party, the other the Democratic incumbent and champion of states' rights.  Eric Simonson, 2006 Academy Award-winner for his documentary The Golden Age of Norman Corwin, directs a rare and timely revival of Corwin's Broadway play, taken from the transcripts of the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates that tackled the day's most passionate issue - slavery. Their battle comes to life through the eyes of Adele Douglas (Lily Rabe), wife of candidate Stephen Douglas.  Challenged by the charming man from Illinois, she reexamines her basic beliefs about the American concept of freedom.  All performances are recorded to air on LATW's nationally-syndicated radio theater series, The Play's The Thing, which broadcasts weekly on public and satellite radio.

The Rivalry is written by Norman Corwin and directed by Eric Simonson (2006 Academy Award winner for The Golden Age of Norman Corwin) and will play the following schedule:

Wednesday, October 15 at 8 pm*
Thursday, October 16 at 8 pm
Friday, October 17 at 8 pm
Saturday, October 18 at 2:30 pm
Sunday, October 19 at 4 pm

To purchase tickets call L.A. Theatre Works Box Office (310) 827-0889 or visit www.latw.org

L.A. Theatre Works' radio theater series, "The Play's the Thing," airs locally every Saturday night from 10 pm to midnight on 89.3 KPCC, and is streamed on the KPCC website (www.kpcc.org) for one week following each broadcast.  The series can also be heard on public radio stations throughout the country, and on XM Satellite Radio.  The L.A. Theatre Works Audio Theatre Collection is available in bookstores, libraries, through their catalog, digitally on audible.com, itunes.com, and on the L.A. Theatre Works website at www.latw.org.

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