Abe Koogler's FULFILLMENT CENTER World Premiere Bows Tonight Off-Broadway

Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere of Fulfillment Center, the new play by Abe Koogler (Kill Floor), directed by Daniel Aukin (Fool For Love at MTC), opens tonight, June 20, at The Studio at Stage II - Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Series at New York City Center - Stage II (131 West 55th Street).

The cast of Fulfillment Center features Eboni Booth (Sundown, Yellow Moon at Ars Nova/WP Theater; Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. at Soho Rep), Bobby Moreno (The Year Of The Rooster at Ensemble Studio Theatre, Grand Concourse at Playwrights Horizons), Deirdre O'Connell (By The Water at MTC, "The Affair," Circle Mirror Transformation), and Frederick Weller (Mother and Sons, Take Me Out, "In Plain Sight").

In the New Mexico desert, a down-on-her-luck folk singer (Deirdre O'Connell) takes a job at a giant online retailer's shipping center. Her young manager struggles to connect with his girlfriend newly relocated from New York. And a drifter living at a local campground dangerously links them all. Raw, surprising, and funny, this world premiere from the fast-rising author of Kill Floor is about four lonely lives coming together in the search for fulfillment.

The creative team for Fulfillment Center includes Andrew Lieberman (scenic design), Ásta Bennie Hostetter (costume design), Pat Collins (lighting design), and Ryan Rumery (sound design).

Fulfillment Center was commissioned by MTC.

Manhattan Theatre Club, under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, has become one of the country's most prominent and prestigious theatre companies. Over the past four and a half decades, MTC productions have earned numerous awards including six Pulitzer Prizes and 20 Tony Awards. MTC has a Broadway home at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) and two Off-Broadway theatres at New York City Center (131 West 55th Street). Renowned MTC productions include August Wilson's Jitney; Heisenberg by Simon Stephens; The Father by Florian Zeller with translation by Christopher Hampton; Fool For Love by Sam Shepard; Airline Highway by Lisa D'Amour; Casa Valentina by Harvey Fierstein; Outside Mullingar and Doubt by John PatRick Stanley; The Commons of Pensacola by Amanda Peet; Murder Ballad by Julia Jordan and Juliana Nash; Choir Boy by Tarell Alvin McCraney; The Assembled Parties by Richard Greenberg; Wit by Margaret Edson; Venus in Fur by David Ives; Good People and Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire; The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez; Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies; Ruined by Lynn Nottage; Proof by David Auburn; The Tale of the Allergist's Wife by Charles Busch; Love! Valour! Compassion! by Terrence McNally; The Piano Lesson by August Wilson; Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley; and Ain't Misbehavin', the Fats Waller musical. For more information on MTC, visit www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.

The Studio at Stage II is Manhattan Theatre Club's initiative at New York City Center - Stage II (131 West 55th Street). The initiative launched in 2012 with the sold out, critically acclaimed world premiere of Murder Ballad, the rock musical by Julia Jordan and Juliana Nash and has continued with the critically acclaimed premieres of Choir Boy by Tarell Alvin McCraney, Taking Care of Baby by Dennis Kelly, The Lion by Benjamin Scheuer, By The Water by Sharyn Rothstein, Heisenberg by Simon Stephens, Important Hats of the Twentieth Century by Nick Jones, The Ruins of Civilization by Penelope Skinner, and Sell/Buy/Date by Sarah Jones.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Abe Koogler (Playwright)'s Kill Floor premiered at Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 in the fall of 2015 and received its regional premiere at American Theater Company. His play Blue Skies Process will have a workshop production this fall at the Goodman Theatre. He is a winner of the Kennedy Center's Paula Vogel Award and the Williamstown Theatre Festival's L. Arnold Weissberger Award, and his plays have been developed at Kitchen Dog Theatre, the Playwrights' Center, the Great Plains Theatre Conference, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival's BLACK SWAN Lab. His work is published by Dramatists Play Service and Bloomsbury. Abe earned an MFA from UT's Austin's Michener Center for Writers and is a graduate of Juilliard's Playwrights Program. He is under commission from Manhattan Theatre Club and is a native of Washington State.

Daniel Aukin (Director). Three-time OBIE Award winner Daniel Aukin's work includes the recent revival of Fool For Love by Sam Shepard at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman (also Williamstown Theatre Festival), Melissa James Gibson's Placebo (Playwrights Horizons), The Fortress Of Solitude (Dallas Theater Center & The Public Theater), Joshua Harmon's Bad Jews (Roundabout), Melissa James Gibson's What Rhymes With America (The Atlantic), Sam Shepard's Heartless (Signature), Amy Herzog's 4000 Miles (Lincoln Center Theater), Marius von Mayenburg's The Ugly One (Soho Rep), Itamar Moses' Back Back Back (MTC), Arthur Miller's A View From The Bridge (Arena Stage) and Elmer Rice's The Adding Machine (La Jolla Playhouse). As Artistic Director of Soho Rep (1998-2006) premieres of new work include Mark Schultz's Everything Will Be Different, Melissa James Gibson's Suitcase and [SIC], Mac Wellman's Cat's-Paw, Quincy Long's The Year Of The Babt and Maria Irene Fornes' Molly's Dream.

Eboni Booth (Madeleine) is very excited to make her Manhattan Theater Club debut. Previous appearances include Sundown, Yellow Moon (Ars Nova/WP Theater); Ultimate Beauty Bible (Page 73); On a Clear Day I Can See to Elba (ICE FACTORY, New Ohio); Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. (Soho Rep.); Family Play, 1979 - Present (Collaboration Town); Motel Cherry (Clubbed Thumb/New Georges); Girls in Trouble (Flea Theater); and The Cider House Rules (Atlantic Theater Company). Television: "Show Me a Hero" and "Daredevil." Eboni is a graduate of the University of Vermont.

Bobby Moreno (Alex) was most recently seen as 'Rex' in the surrealistic play, Alligator, written by Hilary Bettis. He was also seen at New York Theater Workshop in David Bowie's limited-engagement musical Lazarus, alongside Michael C. Hall and Cristin Millioti. Previously, he was seen off-Broadway in Heidi Schreck's play, Grand Concourse, at Playwrights Horizons. Bobby was the star of Ensemble Studio Theatre's The Year Of The Rooster, for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. Other New York Theatre credits include Hand To God, Invasion!, Red-Handed Otter, Okay, Luther, Phoebe In Winter, I.E. - In Other Words. In addition, Bobby appeared in the independent film How He Fell In Love opposite Matt McGorry, which premiered at the 2015 LA Film Festival. Regional credits include Leveling Up (Cincinnati Playhouse, Best Featured Actor nomination), Goldor $ Mythyka (New Georges), Cyrano (The Folger), Re-Entry (CenterStage). On television, Moreno has appeared in the hit Showtime series "Homeland," CBS's "Braindead" and "The Good Wife," and NBC's "Kings." Bobby is a graduate of Texas State University and currently resides in New York City.

Deirdre O'Connell (Suzan) was honored with a 2015 Lilly Award for contributions made to the American theatre by women. Recent theatre credits include The Way West (Labyrinth - of which she's a proud member & Steppenwolf); Judy (Page 73); Little Children Dream of God (Roundabout); By The Water (Manhattan Theatre Club, 2015 Lortel Nomination); Scarcity (Rattlestick); A Family For All Occasions (Labyrinth); The Vandal (The Flea Theater); Magic/Bird (Longacre Theatre); Circle Mirror Transformation (Obie and Drama Desk Awards; Playwrights Horizons); In The Wake (Los Angeles Ovation Award, Richard Seff Actor's Equity Award, Lortel nomination; The Public Theater and Mark Taper Forum). Film includes the recently wrapped The Boy Downstairs; Gabriel; St. Vincent; In the Radiant City; Synecdoche, NY; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. TV includes recurring roles on "The Path" (2 seasons), "The Affair," "Nurse Jackie." Obie for Sustained Excellence in Performance.

Frederick Weller (John). Broadway: Mother and Sons, Seascape, Glengarry Glen Ross (Drama Desk Award, Ensemble), Take Me Out (Drama Desk nomination), The Little Foxes, The Rehearsal, Six Degrees of Separation. Off-Broadway: A View From the Bridge (Center Theatre Group / Kennedy Center), The Money Shot, Reasons to Be Happy (Lucille Lortel nomination), Still Life, Some Men (Drama Desk nomination), In a Dark Dark House, Mother Courage and Her Children (with Meryl Streep), The Shape of Things (Lortel nomination), Curtains (Obie Award , Ensemble), Take Me Out, Plunge. Film: 10x10, The Fundamentals of Caring, Whiskey Bay, The Normals, The Shape of Things, The Business of Strangers, Coyote Ugly, Armageddon, Stonewall (1995). TV: "Odd Mom Out," "The Blacklist," "Conviction," "Bull," "In Plain Sight," "The Knick," "Banshee," "Blue Bloods," "The Good Wife," "Alpha House," "Monk," "Person of Interest," "Elementary," "Law & Order." Upcoming: HBO's Mosaic with Sharon Stone.