Photo Flash: LAByrinth 'Penalties & Interest'

 LAByrinth Theater Company (John Ortiz, Artistic Director; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Co-Artistic Director; John Gould Rubin, Co-Artistic Director & Executive Director) has announced complete casting for the new play in development, PENALTIES $ INTEREST by Rebecca Cohen, the sixth play in the inaugural PUBLIC LAB series.  Directed by John Gould Rubin, the cast features LAByrinth Theater Company members Julian Acosta ("Dirt"), Elizabeth Canavan (The Little Flower of East Orange), Yetta Gottesman (The Last Days of Judas Iscariot), Craig "muMs" Grant (A View From 151st Street, "Oz"), and Michael Puzzo (Dirty Story).  The development production begins performances Tuesday, June 10th for a limited engagement through June 28th at The Public Theater (425 Lafayette Street at Astor Place).   

The insular existence of office life is a Petri dish for contemporary society in Rebecca Cohen's comedy, Penalties & Interest.  Lollie, Lyle and Amy try to keep their heads above water, and their boss, Dick, bobs up when they least expect it.   

LAByrinth first presented Penalties & Interest behind closed doors at its annual retreat, the Summer Intensive, and then presented it as a free reading at the 2006 Barn Series festival. Now, this bare-bones PUBLIC LAB production marks the next stage in LAByrinth's unique play development process, taking the collaboration between the playwright, director, designers and audiences, to the next level.

To follow this process, from planning through rehearsals and closing night, members of the general public are invited to contribute to the Penalties & Interest Blog (at www.LABtheater.org), where author, director, company and creative team are talking about the play's development, and hosting a forum for audience response.

The creative team for Penalties & Interest includes Chris Barreca (Scenic Design), Oana Botez-Ban (Costume Design), Nicole Pearce (Lighting Design), Betsy Rhodes (Sound Design) and Paula Pizzi (Dramaturg).

Penalties & Interest will play the following performance schedule: Tuesdays – Saturdays at 8:00 p.m.  Tickets are $10 and available at The Public Theater Box Office, by calling (212) 967-7555, or online at www.publictheater.org.  The Public Theater is located at 425 Lafayette Street.  

The performance of Penalties & Interest on Tuesday, June 24th will feature open-captioning for members of the Hard-of-Hearing community.  For reservations and information, contact LAByrinth at (212) 513-1014 or visit LABtheater.org. LAByrinth's Accessibility Project is made possible with a grant from Theatre Development Fund's TAP Plus program. Open-Captioning provided by c2 (caption coalition) inc.

John Gould Rubin (director) with cast members Michael Puzzo, Julian Acosta, Elizabeth Canavan, Yetta Gottesman and Craig "muMs" Grant

Michael Puzzo, Julian Acosta, Yetta Gottesman and Elizabeth Canavan i

Michael Puzzo, Elizabeth Canavan, Craig "muMs" Grant and Yetta Gottesman

Julian Acosta, Michael Puzzo, Yetta Gottesman and Elizabeth Canavan

Michael Puzzo, Elizabeth Canavan and Julian Acosta

Michael Puzzo and Elizabeth Canavan

Photos by  Monique Carboni.