Lincoln Center Theater to Present EPIPHANY by Brian Watkins

Lincoln Center Theater has announced its upcoming production of Epiphany, a new play by Brian Watkins, directed by Tyne Rafaeli. Epiphany will begin previews Thursday, May 19 and open on Thursday, June 16 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (150 West 65 Street).

 

Epiphany will feature Francois Battiste, Marylouise Burke, Heather Burns, Jonathan Hadary, Omar Metwally, Colby Minifie, David Ryan Smith, C.J. Wilson, and Carmen Zilles.

 

An uncanny evening. Snow falls softly. An eager host gathers old friends to try and resuscitate a forgotten tradition. But when the guest of honor is unusually late, the group becomes unmoored, craving answers. And there might not be enough wine, or goose, or time to fend off the long-neglected questions that now haunt their souls.

 

Epiphany will have sets by John Lee Beatty, costumes by Montana Levi Blanco, lighting by Isabella Byrd, original music and sound by Daniel Kluger. Roxana Khan is the Stage Manager.

About Brian Watkins:

Brian Watkins' plays include Wyoming, Evergreens, Into The Earth With You, My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer, and High Plains among others. Most recently, he is the creator, showrunner, and executive producer of the upcoming series Outer Range starring Josh Brolin, premiering April 15th on Amazon Prime Video. His plays have been produced by Druid Theatre at the Galway International Arts Festival under the direction of Garry Hynes, at The Flea Theater and Lesser America under the direction of Danya Taymor, as well as at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Juilliard School, Edinburgh Fringe, Creede Repertory, and more. His plays have been developed with Lincoln Center Theater, Atlantic Theater Company, New York Theatre Workshop, LAByrinth, Rattlestick, Ensemble Studio Theatre, CATF, Intar, and Seven Devils, among others. Watkins is the recipient of a Jerome Foundation Emerging Artist Fellowship, a Stavis Playwriting Award nominee, a Sundance Lab and O'Neill finalist, a recipient of the John Osborne Award for the Performing Arts, a Heideman Award finalist, and is under commission from the Denver Center Theatre Company. He is a Juilliard Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Fellow and a New Dramatists resident playwright. Upcoming film work includes an independent feature with Circle of Confusion for which he serves as writer and producer. Currently, Watkins is writing an original screenplay for Steven Spielberg's Amblin. Epiphany will be Mr. Watkins' Lincoln Center Theater debut and marks his first professional production in New York.

About Tyne Rafael:

Tyne Rafaeli will make her Newhouse debut after directing Power Strip at the Claire Tow during LCT3's 2019-2020 season. LCT: Associate Director for The King and I, Golden Boy, Nikolai and the Others. Recent productions include Sylvia Khoury's Selling Kabul (Playwrights Horizons, NY Times Critics' Pick); Ming Peiffer's Usual Girls (Roundabout, NY Times Critics' Pick & Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Director of a Play), Craig Lucas' I Was Most Alive With You (Playwrights Horizons, NY Times Critics' Pick) and Lauren Yee's In a Word (Cherry Lane, NY Times Critics' Pick); also Keith Bunin's The Coast Starlight (La Jolla); Michael Yates Crowley's The Rape of The Sabine Women (Playwrights Realm); Martyna Majok's Ironbound and the world premiere of Anna Ziegler's Actually (Geffen Playhouse, Ovation Award). Her work has also been seen at The Public, MTC, Atlantic Theater Company, Classic Stage Company, MCC, Cal Shakes, The McCarter, The Old Globe, amongst others. TV: "The Good Fight." Tyne has directed various original audio series for Audible and is currently co-producing and directing a new scripted series for Gimlet.

 

This season, in addition to Epiphany, Lincoln Center Theater is also producing The Skin of Our Teeth, Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, directed by LCT Resident Director Lileana Blain-Cruz, currently in previews at the Vivian Beaumont Theater; the critically acclaimed LCT3 production of At the Wedding, a new comedy by Bryna Turner, directed by Jenna Worsham, now extended through Sunday, April 24th the Claire Tow Theater; as well as an additional LCT3 production this summer, to be announced.

Lincoln Center Theater gratefully acknowledges The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Trust for supporting new American work at LCT. LCT's production season is generously supported by the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust. The Mitzi E. Newhouse season is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

Lincoln Center Theater is deeply grateful to New York's Senator Chuck Schumer for his outstanding leadership in establishing the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, aka Save Our Stages, of which LCT is among the many beneficiaries. This vital program has provided a much-needed anchor of support to the arts community as we emerge from the devastating pandemic crisis.

Meet the cast:

Francois Battiste is an actor acclaimed for his work in theatre, television, and film. He recently starred as Scrooge in Jack Thorne's Tony Award winning adaptation of A Christmas Carol at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco. In London he played Malcolm X in the Olivier nominated, Donmar Warehouse production of One Night in Miami. Broadway: Bronx Bombers, Prelude to a Kiss, Magic/Bird. Broadway National Tour: Jitney. He received the Obie Award, plus Lucille Lortel and AUDELCO nominations The Good Negro (The Public). He also recently starred opposite S. Epatha Merkerson as Walter Lee in A Raisin in the Sun at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Off-Broadway includes Merchant of Venice (with Al Pacino), Detroit '67, Broke-Ology, Head of Passes (with Phylicia Rashad), Paradise Blue, The Winter's Tale. He was a series regular on ABC's "10 Days in the Valley." Other television credits include "New Amsterdam" (NBC); "Station 19," "The Family" (ABC); "EVIL," "Person of Interest," "The Good Wife" (CBS); "Are We There Yet?" (TBS); and "The Normal Heart" (HBO). He received his B.S. from Illinois State University and professional training at the British American Drama Academy at Oxford, as well as The Juilliard School.

 

Marylouise Burke. Broadway/UK: Into the Woods, Is He Dead?, Fish in the Dark and most recently at London's National Theatre in Annie Baker's John. Off-Broadway credits include Everybody, Ripcord, Fuddy Meers (Drama Desk Award for Featured Actress), Kimberly Akimbo (Drama Desk nomination), Savannah Disputation, American Sligo, Imagining the Imaginary Invalid and Love Loss and What I Wore. Films include I Know This Much Is True, Sideways, A Prairie Home Companion, Series 7, Must Love Dogs, Meet Joe Black, Sleepwalk with Me. TV: Recently recurred on "The Blacklist," "New Amsterdam," "Prodigal Son," and "Ozark." 2014 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Performance.

 

Heather Burns. Theater: The Kid Stays in the Picture (Royal Court/Complicité); Peace for Mary Francis (New Group); Dinner with Friends, The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Roundabout); Middletown (Vineyard); Medieval Play (Signature); Fran's Bed, Lobby Hero (Playwrights Horizons); Writer's Block (Atlantic Theater); and the West End production of This is our Youth. Film credits include Manchester by the Sea, Brave New Jersey, What's Your Number?, Fitzgerald Family Christmas, Ashes, Breaking Upwards, Choke, The Groomsmen, Bewitched, Miss Congeniality, Miss Congeniality 2, Two Weeks' Notice and You've Got Mail. Recent television: "Julia," "The Good Fight," "The Politician," "Sneaky Pete," "Blindspot," "Friends from College" and "Bored to Death."

 

Jonathan Hadary. LCT: Golden Boy, Awake and Sing! (Drama Desk Award). Broadway: Spamalot, All Shook Up, Gypsy (Tony nomination), As Is (Obie Award), Gemini. Off-Broadway: A Bright Room Called Day, Coriolanus, Indian Summer, Rocket to the Moon (Drama Desk nom), Middle of the Night, The Comedy of Errors, The Destiny of Me, The Winter's Tale, Assassins. National Tour: Angels in America (Joseph Jefferson, Helen Hayes Awards). Film: The Fablemans, Margaret, Intolerable Cruelty, Bait, A Time to Kill. Television: "Girls5Eva," "Veep," "At Home with Amy Sedaris," "Horace and Pete," "Russian Doll," "The Heart, She Holler."

 

Omar Metwally made his film debut in Steven Spielberg's Munich. Since then he has appeared in numerous films, including Julian Schnabel's Miral, Complete Unknown (dir Josh Marston), Non-Stop, Breakable You and Rendition (dir Gavin Hood) for which he received the Chopard Trophy at the Cannes Film Festival. On television, he is currently starring in David E. Kelley's drama series "Big Sky" (ABC) for a second season. He also appeared for four seasons as Vik Ullah in the Showtime series "The Affair." Other television work includes "Ramy" (Hulu); "Mr Robot," "Treadstone" (USA); and many others. Theater credits include Sixteen Wounded on Broadway (Tony Award, Outer Critics Circle nominations) as well as numerous off-Broadway appearances that include Guards at the Taj (Atlantic Theater Company, Obie Award) The Public Theater, Lincoln Center Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and many more. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.

 

Colby Minifie. Broadway: The Pillowman, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Six Degrees Of Separation. Off-Broadway: Punk Rock (MCC), Close Up Space (MTC), Landscape of the Body (Signature), The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (Transport Group). Select film and TV credits include I'm Thinking of Ending Things, "The Boys," "Fear The Walking Dead," "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," "Marvel's Jessica Jones," Homebody, "Paterno," Submission, Radium Girls and the new animated series "Diabolical." Colby is a graduate of the Macaulay Honors College and CUNYBA, YoungArts, BADA, and Al Gore's Climate Reality Leadership Corps.

 

David Ryan Smith. Broadway: One Man Two Guvnors, Passing Strange. Off Broadway: Merry Wives, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry V, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, The Comedy of Errors, Pericles (Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival); Where We Stand (Women's Project); Passage (Soho Rep); The Death of the Last Black Man... (Signature Theatre Company); Mankind (Playwrights Horizons); Gone Missing (City Center Encores!); The Glory of the World (BAM). Regional: Berkeley Rep, Rep of Saint Louis, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Barrington Stage, ACT, Dallas Theater Center, among others. Film: The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Medal of Victory, Bee Season.

 

C.J. Wilson. LCT: Henry IV, All-American (LCT3). Broadway: Bronx Bombers, The Big Knife, Festen, The Best Man. Off-Broadway: On the Shore of the Wide World, Hold on to Me Darling (Lucille Lortel nomination), Dying for It, Our New Girl, Offices, The Voysey Inheritance (Atlantic); Medieval Play, The Lady from Dubuque (Signature); Happy Now? (Lucille Lortel nom, Primary Stages); Race (CSC); Stop Kiss (The Public). Film: Hungry Dog Blues, Irresistible, Manchester by the Sea, Demolition, A Vigilante, Easy Living, The Intern. TV: "Teenage Euthanasia," "The Blacklist," "Quantico," "Bull," "The Sinner," "Homeland," "The Characters," "The Sound of Music Live!" "The Following," "Onion Sportsdome," "Brotherhood," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: SVU," Law & Order: Criminal Intent."

 

Carmen Zilles. Since graduating from Yale School of Drama, Carmen Zilles has worked steadily in New York theatre. Her most recent credits include Fefu and Her Friends directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz, Little Women, Scenes from a Marriage directed by Ivo van Hove, Small Mouth Sounds directed by Rachel Chavkin, Three Girls, and Chimichangas and Zoloft. Regionally, she has appeared in Top Girls directed by Liesl Tommy at Huntington Theatre, Another Word for Beauty at The Goodman Theatre, and most recently in The Swindlers at Baltimore Center Stage. She can currently be seen Off-Broadway in Stefano Massini's new play 7 Minutes. In television and film, Carmen has appeared opposite Julianne Moore in Bel Canto and opposite Keke Palmer in Pimp, as well as on 'Blue Bloods'.

 

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