Cast and Creative Team Announced for New York Premiere of GNIT

TFANA will reopen its doors for the 2021-2022 season with the New York premiere of Will Eno's Gnit, his modern version of Henrik Ibsen's sprawling, satirical, 19th century five-act play in verse, Peer Gynt, as a quick-paced contemporary tragicomedy. Gnit ran for four preview performances at Polonsky Shakespeare Center in March 2020 before being shuttered due to the pandemic. Eno's exhilaratingly unpredictable journey of a play finally returns after a 19-month break, filled with real-life tales of isolation, loss, courage, love, and a 15-minute intermission. The production is directed by Eno's frequent collaborator, the Obie and Lortel Award-Winner Oliver Butlera??(Eno's 2014a??The Open Housea??and the 2018 revival ofa??Thom Paine (based on nothing), starring Michael C. Hall, both at Signature Theatre, and 2019'sa??The Plota??at Yale Rep; Heidi Schreck's Tony Award-nominateda??What the Constitution Means to Me).

Gnita??will be performed on thea??Samuel H. Scripps Mainstagea??ata??Polonsky Shakespeare Centera??(262 Ashland Place, Brooklyn), TFANA's home,a??October 30-November 21. Gnita??features Jordan Bellowa??(Interiora??at 59E59, The Tank'sa??The Russian and the Jew,a??"Orange is the New Black") as Stranger 1; Joe Curnuttea??(Ars Nova's Mrs. Murray's Menagerie,a??Miles for Marya??at Playwrights Horizons and Bushwick Starr, "The Get Down") as Peter; Christy Escobar as (Stranger 2); Deborah Hedwalla?? (Obie Award-winner fora??Sight Unseena??at Manhattan Theatre Club,a??Curse of the Starving Classa??at Signature, directed by James Houghton, An Opening in Timea??at Hartford Stage, directed by Oliver Butler) as Mother; a??David Shih as Town; and Jasmine Batchelor as Solvay.

The creative team includesa??Kimie Nishikawaa??(Set Design), Ásta Bennie Hostettera??and Avery Reed, (Costume Design), Amith Chandrashakera??(Lighting Design),a??Lee Kinneya??(Sound Design), anda??Daniel Klugera??(Composer; original orchestrations Oklahoma, 2019 Tony Award nomination for Best Orchestrations and 2020 Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Theater Album).

Peter Gnit (Joe Curnutte) is a carefree young man on a reckless search for Experience and the True Self. Armed with tales from his mother of his early greatness and his absent father, he heads out into the world. Like all true stories of human endeavor and adventure, Gnit is part horror story, part fairy tale, and part road movie. A timely reckoning with received notions of Rugged Individualism and the self-made person.

When the play made its world premiere at the Humana Festival in 2013, the New York Times wrote that audiences "will delight in how snugly Ibsen's peculiar drama accommodates Mr. Eno's flair for playing games with language and his offbeat humor, which cuts to the heart as incisively as it tickles the funny bone." TFANA's 2021 New York premiere builds upon what was learned at the Humana Festival.

Will Eno says: "It's so exciting to think about reopening this play. In a good way, I hope Gnit can remind us that it was always difficult to truly connect with other people, but it was also always crucial to our well-being and even our sanity. There are fine lines everywhere, and it's a fine line between healthy self-sufficiency and a dangerous level of self-regard. 'Hell is other people' is an amusing quote but I think it's almost entirely wrong. I think life is other people. Heaven is other people. And I hope that Gnit, both in its content, and in the fact that it happens communally, can demonstrate this truth to people."

Oliver Butler elaborates:a??"One of the challenges of staginga??Gnita??is that this epic journey across a life is unmoored from any given setting; it transforms throughout, traveling across space and time. But we only have one stage. When we started the design process with Kimie Nishikawa we knew the play couldn't work like an old school musical with multiple sets for each scene, nor as a blank stage that demands: imagine it all. We landed somewhere between everything and nothing. The goal of this production is to do the most with the least, and what's there should give you just enough to imagine the rest."a?? a??

Jeffrey Horowitz says,a??"At the end of the play, Peter Gnit, reflects on what he has gained and loss in his search for his true self. But, whether there is a true self and, if we could find it, would it makes us happier to realize this "true self" or instead to live as part of a community are questions at the heart of Will Eno's Gnit. Our production was shut down March 12, 2020 due to the pandemic. For nearly 19 months, the set of Gnit has sat on our stage illuminated by a ghost light; costumes, wigs and make-up protected in dressing rooms; and lighting instruments focused and ready. I visited the production often and wondered if we would ever get a chance to play Gnit and continue that conversation between actors and the audience. Well...we can. I hope you will join us."

GNITa?? PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE, TICKETING, AND OTHER INFORMATION

Performances of Gnit will take place at 7:30pm on October 30, 31, Nov 2-6, 9-14, and 16-21. Matinees at 2:00pm will take place on November 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, and 21.

Members of the press are welcome:

a??

Thursday, November 4 at 7:30pm

Friday, November 5 at 7:30pm

Saturday, November 6 at 2:00pm and 7:30pm

Sunday, November 7 at 2:00pm

Gnita??opens Sunday, November 7 with reviews embargoed until 5:00pm.

Theatre for a New Audience is committed to economic access and offers tickets at a wide range of prices:

$20 New Deal: all performances. Age 30 and under or full-time students of any age. May be purchased online, over the phone, or at the box office, in advance or day-of, with valid ID(s) proving eligibility required at pickup. Use code NEWDEAL.

$20 Brooklyn Pass: all performances. Employees of participating Brooklyn non-profit organizations through the Brooklyn Pass program.

Special Discounts: TFANA offers special discounts available by joining its mailing list at www.tfana.org.

$90-$100: all performances.

$125 Premium Seats: all performances.

Tickets are on sale now at www.tfana.org or by emailing tickets@TFANA.org. Polonsky Shakespeare Center is located at 262 Ashland Place, Brooklyn, NY 11217.

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