Tony Nominee Kathleen Chalfant Joins Cast of Sarah Ruhl World Premiere in Louisville

Actors Theatre of Louisville's Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein announce casting for For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday by acclaimed playwright Sarah Ruhl. Multi award-winning actress Kathleen Chalfant, known for her performance in Wit Off-Broadway, the Broadway productions of M. Butterfly, Angels in America and Racing Demon, and screen credits The Affair and House of Cards, will lead a stellar cast of actors that features an array of Broadway veterans, many making their debuts at Actors Theatre. For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday was commissioned by Actors Theatre of Louisville and will receive its world premiere during the 40th Humana Festival of New American Plays, March 8- April 10, 2016. The production will be directed by Les Waters.

For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday takes a moving look at growing up and growing old within a family. In the wake of their father's death, five siblings are stirred to reconnect with childhood dreams and confront the inevitability of the passage of time.

Ms. Chalfant will be joined by David Chandler (Long Day's Journey into Night and Zara Spook and Other Lures and The Swan, Actors Theatre of Louisville; Lost in Yonkers, Death of a Salesman and American Clock, Broadway); Ron Crawford (Outside Mullinger, Broadway; The Grapes of Wrath, Broadway, Chicago, London), and Lisa Emery (Long Day's Journey into Night, Actors Theatre of Louisville; Relatively Speaking, The Smell of the Kill, The Women, Present Laughter, Rumors and Burn This, Broadway). We also welcome back former Actors Theatre of Louisville Acting Apprentice (1981-82) and Company Member (1982-1983) Daniel Jenkins (Golden Boy, Billy Elliot: The Musical, Orange is the New Black, Veep). Keith Reddin (Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, The Play's The Thing, Broadway; Stray Cats, Off-Broadway; Lolita, Revolutionary Road and Big) rounds out the cast.

For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday features scenic design by Annie Smart, costume design by Kristopher Castle, Lighting Design by Matt Frey, and sound design by Bray Poor.

For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday reunites Obie award-winning director Les Waters with playwright Sarah Ruhl. Previously they collaborated on Eurydice, Three Sisters, Dear Elizabeth, and In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), which earned Ruhl a Tony nomination and was directed on Broadway by Waters. Actors Theatre has had a relationship with Sarah Ruhl dating back to the 2002 Humana Festival of New American Plays, for which she was commissioned to write a short piece in collaboration with students and faculty at Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center, which would become part of a larger work entitled The Technology Project. Subsequently, Actors Theatre produced The Clean House in 2008, In The Next Room (2012) and her ten-minute play, Two Conversations Overheard on Airplanes, which was directed by Les Waters in the 2013 Humana Festival.

Tickets to For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday are now available with the purchase of a 2015-2016 Season Ticket Package at ActorsTheatre.org or 502.584.1205. Single tickets go on sale July 25, 2015. The full lineup of the Humana Festival of New American Plays will be announced in November.

Actors Theatre celebrates the 40th Humana Festival with its 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.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride

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