Austin Pendleton Joins U.S. Premiere of THIS BEAUTIFUL FUTURE

Theaterlab, in association with Lawryn LaCroix, has announced that Tony nominee Austin Pendleton will join the cast of the U.S. premiere of This Beautiful Future by Rita Kalnejais. Pendleton replaces the previously announced Bill Buell who has withdrawn from the production. Directed by Jack Serio, This Beautiful Future is a story of young love set during World War II and marks Kalnejais's New York debut. The cast also includes Francesca Carpanini (Broadway: All My Sons, The Little Foxes) and Justin Mark (Lauren Yee's In a Word) with Angelina Fiordellisi (Zorba, Out of the Mouths of Babes). Performances begin January 13 at Theaterlab (357 W 36th Street, Manhattan), with an opening set for Saturday, January 15, for a limited run through January 30. Tickets are now on sale at www.theaterlabnyc.com.

Theaterlab has also announced additional COVID safety protocols. All patrons must show proof of a Covid booster shot for all those eligible to receive it. Those not yet eligible will be required to show proof of vaccination. Additionally, all audience members must wear an N95 or KN95 mask at all times. Cloth masks will not be permitted and KN95 masks will be available on request. The venue has also been outfitted with an updated air filtration system and air purifiers.

Caught in the middle of a war, two teenagers take shelter from a divided world. Elodie is French and 17. Otto, a German soldier, is 15. Safe from the debris outside, they meet secretly for one night. They talk, tease, and touch. They fall in love and fall through time. Kalnejais' kaleidoscopic play is a story of uncomplicated first love in a very complicated world. It seeks out tenderness amidst tragedy. Hope in the hopeless.

The sold-out 2017 world premiere of This Beautiful Future at The Yard in London was greeted with critical acclaim. Lyn Gardner in The Guardian called it an "exquisite portrait of young love in the heat of war... idiosyncratic, yet direct and truthful." Alice Saville in Time Out declared "it's brilliant, and Day-Glo brite." "An extraordinary work... daringly unconventional," wrote Fergus Morgan in The Stage, adding "one of Kalnejais' play's most powerful tools is its refusal to be pinned down, its insistence that nothing is straightforward."

"I am so happy that Jack Serio is directing This Beautiful Future now," said playwright Rita Kalnejais. "And I'm thrilled the play is in New York! I think it's a good time to sit in a theater and be with people falling in love. We've all been stuck in rooms and the future feels so unstable and this play is sort of about that but also hope and the possibility of connection. When I wrote it-in 2016, when every election turned out just so badly-I wanted to write something tender that held the vulnerability of the characters beyond their politics. I wanted the young characters-so shaped by the violence around them-to experience something so pure it felt revolutionary."

"I've been obsessed with This Beautiful Future ever since I first read it in 2017," said director Jack Serio, "and I couldn't be more thrilled to be introducing Rita Kalnejais' work to an American audience. In the wake of the destruction and isolation of the last year and a half, Rita's stunning and deeply human play could not be more urgently needed. A love story that is both complicated and simple, fragile and gorgeous, This Beautiful Future encourages us to look back in order to look forward. It offers no easy answers and inspires us to sit with our discomfort and the world's contradictions. At the same time, it dares us to have hope and insists that beauty can still exist, even during unspeakable violence and turmoil."

The creative team for the U.S. premiere includes Frank J. Oliva (scenic design), Stacey Derosier (lighting design), Ricky Reynoso (costume design), Christopher Darbassie (sound design), Lacey Erb (projection designer), Emily Erickson (music director), and Kerry Concannon (production stage manager).

Eleven performances of This Beautiful Future will take place January 13-30, 2022, at Theaterlab, located at 357 W 36th Street, 3rd Floor in Manhattan. The performance schedule is Thursday through Saturday at 8pm and Sundays at 3pm with an additional 3pm performance on January 15, no performance on January 29, and a 2pm curtain time on January 30. Critics are welcome as of January 14 for an opening on January 16. General admission tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at www.theaterlabnyc.com or by calling (212) 929.2545.

Please visit https://www.theaterlabnyc.com/this-beautiful-future/ for more information.

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