Amy Herzog's 4000 MILES To Open Palm Beach Dramaworks 2022-23 Season

Palm Beach Dramaworks opens its 2022-23 season on October 14 (8pm) with Amy Herzog's warm and moving 4000 Miles, the 2012 Obie Award winner for Best New American Play. Performances continue through October 30, with specially priced previews on October 12 and 13 (7:30pm). J. Barry Lewis directs.

A Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2013, 4000 Miles is a comic drama that tells an intergenerational story. At the end of an agonizing cross-country bike trip, 21-year-old Leo Joseph-Connell shows up unexpectedly at the West Village apartment of his 91-year-old grandmother, Vera Joseph. Across the generational divide, the physically fragile Vera and the emotionally fragile Leo tentatively and gradually learn to connect.

Although 4000 Miles is not autobiographical, Herzog drew from her own life and, especially, the life of her grandmother, Leepee Joseph, an activist and unapologetic Communist right up until her death in 2013 at age 96. Vera, Leepee's alter ego, was introduced in a previous play, After the Revolution.

"Plays as truthful and touching and fine as Amy Herzog's 4000 Miles come along once or maybe twice a season, if we're lucky," Charles Isherwood wrote in The New York Times. In The Wall Street Journal, the late Terry Teachout called 4000 Miles "the best play by an up-and-coming author that I've ever reviewed in this space," describing it as a "small-scale character study reminiscent of Chekhov in its emphasis on personality over plot."

4000 Miles features Patricia Conolly as Vera Joseph; Gabriell Salgado as Leo Joseph-Connell; Stephanie Vazquez as Bec, Leo's girlfriend; and Isabella Chang as Amanda, a new acquaintance that Leo brings back to the apartment. All four actors are making their company debuts. Scenic design is by PBD newcomer Bert Scott, costume design is by Brian O'Keefe, lighting design is by Kirk Bookman, and sound design is by Roger Arnold.

Amy Herzog's plays include After the Revolution (Williamstown Theatre Festival; Playwrights Horizons; Lilly Award), 4000 Miles (Lincoln Center; Obie Award for Best New American Play; Pulitzer Prize finalist), The Great God Pan (Playwrights Horizons), Belleville (Yale Repertory Theatre; New York Theatre Workshop; Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist; Drama Desk nomination), and Mary Jane (Yale Rep, NYTW; New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play). Amy is a recipient of the Whiting Award, the Benjamin H. Danks Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Helen Merrill Award for Playwriting, the Joan and Joseph Cullman Award for Extraordinary Creativity, the New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award, and the Dramatists Guild of America's Horton Foote Playwriting Award. She is a Usual Suspect at NYTW and an alumna of Youngblood, Ars Nova Play Group, and the SoHo Rep Writer/Director Lab. She received her MFA in playwriting from the Yale School of Drama, where she currently teaches.

PBD has updated its COVID-19 safety protocols for the 2022-23 season. Patrons are strongly encouraged but no longer required, to wear masks while in the theatre. PBD staff and volunteers will continue to wear masks at all performances. Actors will continue to be tested a few times a week, as Actors' Equity Association has rigorous protocols in place for its members. Health documentation is not required, but everyone should make responsible decisions. Anyone who feels unwell should stay home, and contact the box office for ticket exchange options. PBD will continue to monitor the situation and update these policies when necessary. If a mask mandate needs to be reinstituted at any time, ticketholders will be notified in advance of their performance, and the information will also be posted on palmbeachdramaworks.org.

Palm Beach Dramaworks is a professional, nonprofit theatre company founded in 2000 and located in the heart of downtown West Palm Beach. Each season, the award-winning company produces five mainstage shows and offers a wide variety of programs for students at the theatre, in schools, and online. Committed to fostering the future of theatre, PBD has become a hub for playwrights in Florida and around the country to nurture their work through initiatives including Drama(in the)works and the annual New Year/New Plays Festival. PBD is a member of Theatre Communications Group, Florida Professional Theatres Association, and the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County. www.palmbeachdramaworks.org

Evening performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8pm (except August: Osage County, which are at 7:30pm), and select Sundays at 7:30pm. Matinee performances are on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2pm. Post-performance discussions for all shows except August: Osage County follow Wednesday matinee and Sunday evening performances. Tickets for all performances are $84, except for opening night of each production ($99) and previews ($64). Student tickets are available for $15, and anyone under 40 pays $40 (no additional fees) with a photo ID. Tickets for educators are half price with proper ID (other restrictions apply). Group rates and subscription packages for four or five plays are also available. Tickets can be purchased through the box office, in person or by phone (561.514.4042 ext 2), and online 24 hours a day at palmbeachdramaworks.org.

The Don & Ann Brown Theatre is located in the heart of downtown West Palm Beach, at 201 Clematis Street. For ticket information contact the box office at (561) 514-4042, or visit www.palmbeachdramaworks.org.

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