Actors Theatre of Louisville Opens GNIT, 3/17

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein have announced the world premiere of Gnit by Will Eno, directed by Artistic Director Les Waters. The play will run in the Pamela Brown Auditorium and will begin previews on March 15, open March 17 and run through April 7. Tickets are on sale now to the public and can be purchased at The Actors Theatre Box Office by calling 502-584-1205 or online at ActorsTheatre.org. The 37th Humana Festival of New American Plays is made possible by a generous grant from the Humana Foundation. Gnit is presented as part of the Brown Forman Series, by special arrangement with Signature Theatre and was developed at The Pershing Square Signature Center, with thanks to the J.A.W. Festival, Portland Center Stage. Director is underwritten by Todd P. Lowe and Fran C. Ratterman; Bruce Merrick and Karen McCoy.

Watch closely as Peter Gnit, a funny-enough but so-so specimen of humanity, makes a lifetime of bad decisions, on the search for his True Self, which is disintegrating while he searches. A rollicking and very cautionary tale about, among other things, how the opposite of love is laziness. Gnit is a faithful, unfaithful, and willfully American misreading of Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt, a 19th century Norwegian play which is famous for all the wrong reasons, written by Will Eno, who has never been to Norway.

"I have worked with Will twice before -TRAGEDY: a tragedy at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Middletown at Steppenwolf Theatre - and I am delighted to work with him again on Gnit as part of the Humana Festival," said Les Waters, Artistic Director. "Will is a major voice in Contemporary Theatre and one of the funniest and most truthful writers."

Will Eno received the Horton Foote Prize for his play Middletown which was produced at the Vineyard Theatre in New York and Steppenwolf in Chicago. His play Thom Pain (based on nothing) was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize and has been translated into many Romance languages and Slavic languages. Eno is also the recipient of the Residency Five Fellowship at Signature Theatre.

Les Waters made his directorial debut as Artistic Director of Actors Theatre of Louisville during the 2012-2013 season with the productions Long Day's Journey Into Night and Girlfriend. He previously directed the American premiere of Eno's TRAGEDY: a tragedy at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Middletown at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. Mr. Waters is an Obie Award-winning director whose credits at Actors include Girlfriend, Long Day's Journey into Night, Charles Mee's Big Love which premiered at the 2000 Humana Festival and Naomi Iizuka's At the Vanishing Point during at the 2004 Humana Festival.

The cast includes Leslie Lyles (Mother) who just finished filming The Harvest (independent film, dir. John McNaughton) and has 35 years of experience working on and off Broadway and in regional theatre. Dan Waller (Peter) most recently appeared in Sweet Bird of Youth at the Goodman Theatre; his credits include Three Sisters at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and The Good Negro, Ghostwritten and Talking Pictures at Goodman Theatre. Kris Kling (Stranger 1) is making his Actors Theatre debut and has appeared off-Broadway and in various roles in theatre, television and film. Kate Eastwood Norris (Stranger 2) is returning to Actors for her second Humana Festival at Actors Theatre. She previously played Nance in Eat Your Heart Out in the 2012 Humana Festival. Danny Wolohan (Town) has been featured in American Theatre Magazine as one of seven actors in the nation one should travel to see and was also named San Francisco's Best Ensemble Actor by SF Weekly. Hannah Bos (Solvay) made her Humana Festival debut last year in Lisa Kron's The Veri**on Play.

The production team includes Antje Ellermann (Scenic Designer) who recently designed Long Day's Journey Into Night at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Connie Furr-Soloman (Costume Designer) has designed for more than 300 productions including Maple and Vine, Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them, At the Vanishing Point, After Ashley, How We Got On, Eat your Heart Out, Macbeth and Greater Tuna at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Matt Frey (Lighting Designer) is returning to Actors after working on Long Day's Journey Into Night. Also returning is Bray Poor (Sound Designer) who served as sound designer for the 2003 and 2004 Humana Festivals.

This year's Humana Festival of New American Plays showcases six full-length plays: The Delling Shore by Sam Marks; Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins; Cry Old Kingdom by Jeff Augustin; Gnit by Will Eno; O Guru Guru Guru, or why I don't want to go to yoga class with you by Mallery Avidon; Sleep Rock Thy Brain,a play by Rinne Groff, Lucas Hnath and Anne Washburn commissioned by Actors Theatre and featuring the Acting Apprentice Company; and an evening of three ten-minute plays by Jonathan Josephson, Sarah Ruhl and Emily Schwend.

Actors Theatre celebrates the 37th Humana Festival with underwriter the Humana Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Humana, Inc. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.

Single tickets and festival packages are now available. For more information or reservations call (502) 584-1205 or 1-800-4-ATL-TIX, or visit Actors Theatre's website at ActorsTheatre.org.

Humana Festival Locals Passes are available to Louisville area residents for only $75. The Locals Pass enables you to see five designated festival productions. Humana Pass holders receive 5 Extra Seat Passes for The Delling Shore, Cry Old Kingdom, Appropriate, Gnit, and the Ten-Minute Plays. Humana Pass holders also receive 50% off any additional tickets to the festival, priority placement in the Extra Seat Pass Line and 2 additional vouchers good for any public panel discussion. Restrictions apply.

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