Jordan Harrison's THE AMATEURS to Bring 14th-Century Pageant Players to the Vineyard

Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern announce that Vineyard Theatre's 2017-2018 season will include the world premiere of THE AMATEURS by JorDan Harrison (2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist for MARJORIE PRIME) directed by Oliver Butler (THE OPEN HOUSE, Obie Award for Direction).

THE AMATEURS joins the previously announced THE BEAST IN THE JUNGLE from five-time Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman (CONTACT, THE PRODUCERS), playwright David Thompson (SCOTTSBORO BOYS), and legendary composer and four-time Tony Award winner John Kander (CABARET, CHICAGO).

In THE AMATEURS, a scrappy troupe of pageant players races across 14th-century Europe, struggling to outrun the Black Death -- and medieval subscribers. The arrival of a mysterious new actor sends Hollis, the leading lady, in search of answers that can only be found off-script... and soon one century's plague begins to look a lot like another, more recent, one. This wildly inventive and funny new work examines the origins of creativity: When does a crisis destroy art, and when does it set it spinning?

THE AMATEURS was originally commissioned by South Coast Repertory and received a staged reading as part of the Goodman Theatre's New Stages Festival.

Memberships are now on sale for The Vineyard's 2017-2018 Season and can be purchased online at www.vineyardtheatre.org/membership or by calling the box office at 212-353-0303. Members are guaranteed seats to each of The Vineyard's three mainstage productions, at a discount off regular price tickets. Other privileges include the ability to reserve seats before tickets go on sale to the general public, discounted guest tickets, invitations to new play readings and developmental lab productions, and other exclusive benefits.

The final show for The Vineyard's 2017-2018 season will be announced at a later date. The Vineyard concludes its current season this spring with the New York premiere of Gina Gionfriddo's CAN YOU FORGIVE HER?, directed by Peter DuBois, currently in previews and opening Tuesday, May 23.

JorDan Harrison was a 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist for MARJORIE PRIME, which was first produced at the Mark Taper Forum and had its New York premiere at Playwrights Horizons. A film adaptation by Michael Almereyda recently premiered in the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Harrison's play MAPLE AND VINE premiered in the Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville and went on to productions at Playwrights Horizons and American Conservatory Theater. Harrison's other works include THE GROWN-UP (Humana Festival), DORIS TO DARLENE (Playwrights Horizons), AMAZONS AND THEIR MEN (Clubbed Thumb), ACT A LADY (Portland Center Stage), FINN IN THE UNDERWORLD (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), FUTURA (NAATCO), KID-SIMPLE (Humana Festival), and a musical, SUPREMA, written with Daniel Zaitchik. His play LOG CABIN will premiere in Spring '18 at Playwrights Horizons. Harrison is the recipient of the Horton Foote Prize, Guggenheim and Hodder Fellowships, the Kesselring Prize, the Roe Green Award, the Heideman Award, Jerome and McKnight Fellowships, and a NEA/TCG Residency. His children's musical, THE FLEA AND THE PROFESSOR, won the Barrymore Award for Best Production after premiering at the Arden Theatre. A graduate of Stanford University and the Brown MFA program, Harrison is an alumnus of New Dramatists. For three seasons, Harrison has been a writer-producer for the Netflix original series "Orange is the New Black."

Oliver Butler is a founder and co-Artistic Director of The Debate Society. With the Debate Society he directed JACUZZI (Ars Nova); BLOOD PLAY (Bushwick Starr, The Public, Williamstown); BUDDY COP 2 (The Ontological Theater); YOU'RE WELCOME (The Brick); CAPE DISAPPOINTMENT (PS122); THE EATEN HEART (The Ontological Theater); THE SNOW HEN; A THOUGHT OUT RAYA. His Off-Broadway directing credits include THE LIGHT YEARS (Playwrights Horizons); THE OPEN HOUSE (Signature Theater, Obie and Lortel Award winner); HOSTAGE SONG (Horse Trade Theater Group). Regionally he directed THOM PAIN (Geffen Playhouse); LEGACY (Williamstown); AN OPENING IN TIME (Hartford Stage); BAD JEWS (Long Wharf). His international credits include TIMESHARE (Malthouse, Au). Oliver is a Sundance Institute Fellow, a Bill Foeller Fellow (Williamstown), and a faculty member at The National Theater Institute.

Dedicated to the creation and production of daring new plays and musicals, Vineyard Theatre has consistently premiered provocative, groundbreaking works, including Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman's INDECENT which is now playing on Broadway, and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Pulitzer Prize finalist GLORIA, which transferred to the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in January; last season's DOT by Colman Domingo; Nicky Silver's THE LYONS; Marx, Lopez and Whitty's Tony Award-winning musical AVENUE Q; Kander and Ebb's THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS; Bell and Bowen's [title of show]; Paula Vogel's HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE (1998 Pulitzer Prize); Edward Albee's THREE TALL WOMEN (1994 Pulitzer Prize); Tarell Alvin McCraney's WIG OUT!; Becky Mode's FULLY COMMITTED; Jenny Schwartz' GOD'S EAR; Will Eno's MIDDLETOWN; and many more. The Vineyard's productions have been honored with two Pulitzer Prizes, three Tony Awards, and numerous Drama Desk, Obie, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel awards.

The Vineyard Theatre's leadership includes Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern and Managing Director Suzanne Appel.

To post a comment, you must register and login.