Frank Wood and Kelley Curran to Star in THE MEETING: THE INTERPRETER Off-Broadway In August

Tony Award winner, Frank Wood and Kelley Curran one of the stars of HBO's The Gilded Age will star in THE MEETING: THE INTERPRETER, a new play written by Catherine Gropper and directed by Brian Mertes.

Previews begin Monday, JULY 29 with an opening set for Sunday, AUGUST 4 at Theater at St. Clements, 423 West 46th Street, New York City. 

Set against the backdrop of the infamous Trump Tower Meeting of 2016, the play tells the story of an international interpreter thrown up against government systems of congressional and senate interrogations, catapulting him into circumstances beyond his control. "This man could be everyman ... one of us," says playwright Catherine Gropper.

This play is about the loss of individuality and privacy is based on actual events (a chance meeting between the playwright and an actual government interpreter). This two-person play supports a cast of thousands thanks to Mertes' production scheme including puppetry, film sequences, projections, and intricate lighting and sound.

Design team includes OBIE and Henry Hewes Award-winning lighting designer, producer, and organizer, Barbara Samuels; Broadway composer and sound designer Daniel Baker; OBIE Award-winning choreographer, Orlando Pabotoy international Puppeteer and Animator Julian Crouch (TONY nominated); video artist and theatre designer, Yana Biryukova (Hartford Stage, Yale Repertory, Irish Repertory Theatre as well as the Venice Biennale 2022); Set Designer Jim Findlay (his works have been presented in 50 countries); and international costume designer, Olivera Gajic (credits include Jedermann (Salzburg Festival, Austria); God's Ear (VineyardTheatre); and the film, I am a Seagull). All of this is then folded back onto itself in real-time through the lens of international videographer Tatiana Stolporskaya, creating a synthesis between documentary and narrative filmmaking.

Frank Wood

was first celebrated for his work on the Broadway production of Side Man, a performance that earned him both a Tony Award and a Drama League Award. His portrayal of Gene, a jazz musician grappling with personal and professional turmoil, highlighted his profound emotional depth and versatility. It's a role that parallels the soul searching experience of The Interpreter in many profound ways. Wood has an impressive array of Broadway credits, including notable performances in The Great Society, Network, The Iceman Cometh, Clybourne Park, August: Osage County, Born Yesterday, and Hollywood Arms. Off-Broadway, he earned a Lucille Lortel nomination for Toros at Second Stage and has graced stages at Signature Theatre, Vineyard Theatre, Lincoln Center, Atlantic Theater Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Playwrights Horizons. His filmography includes roles in acclaimed films such as She Said, Joker, St. Vincent, Changeling, Dan in Real Life, Thirteen Days, In America, Down to You, and The Royal Tenenbaums. On TV, he appeared in series like Billions, The Blacklist, The Night Of, Mozart in the Jungle, The Newsroom, Girls, Flight of the Conchords, The Sopranos, and had a recurring role on Law & Order: SVU.

Kelley Curran

can be seen, as Turner, in Julian Fellowes THE GILDED AGE for HBO. Prior to the intricate characters she will now tackle in The Meeting: The Interpreter, she appeared off-Broadway in Half-God of Rainfall at NYTW; at The Public Theater opposite Glenn Close in Mother of the Maid, and as Clytemnestra in Ellen McLaughlin's world premiere of The Oresteia at The Shakespeare Theatre Company. Kelley has also appeared on Broadway in Present Laughter with Kevin Kline, and at The Signature Theatre, Classic Stage Company, Theatre For a New Audience, and LAByrinth Theatre Company, among others. She made her network television debut on NBC's The Blacklist, and recently appeared on the CBS drama God Friended Me. In 2019 she made her feature film debut in The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot. Kelley was nominated for a SAG Award, won The Callaway Award, Emery Battis Award, NTC Emerging Professional Award, and in 2016 was nominated for a Drama League Award alongside Lupita Nyong'o, Michelle Williams and Lin Manuel-Miranda. She has also been nominated for both a Princess Grace and Helen Hayes Award.

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