Playwrights Horizons Announces $5 Lottery for A LIFE with David Hyde Pierce

Playwrights Horizons begins accepting entries today, Monday, September 19, for the LIVEforFIVE online lottery for $5 tickets to their world premiere production of A Life, a new play by Obie Award winner Adam Bock (A Small Fire, The Drunken City at Playwrights; The Receptionist; The Thugs; Swimming in the Shallows). Directed by two-time Obie Award winner Anne Kauffman (Marjorie Prime, Detroit, Maple and Vine at Playwrights; You Got Older; Belleville; This Wide Night; Smokefall), the play is the second production of the theater company's 2016/2017 Season.

The LIVEforFIVE lottery for A Life will be for tickets to the first preview on Friday evening, September 30 at 7:30 PM at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street). The production has an Opening Night set for Monday, October 24 at 8PM and will play a limited engagement through Sunday, November 13.

A ticketing initiative created in 2007 as part of Playwrights Horizons' Arts Access program, LIVEforFIVE makes a limited number of $5 tickets available for the first preview performance of each Playwrights Horizons production through a lottery via the company's website (www.phnyc.org).

Details for the LIVEforFIVE lottery are as follows: beginning today, Monday, September 19 at 12 Noon, theatergoers can enter the lottery by filling out an entry form at www.phnyc.org. Entries will be accepted until Thursday, September 22 at 12 Noon. Winners of the lottery will be notified via email no later than 3PM on Thursday, September 22 with instructions on how to book their $5 tickets. Unclaimed tickets will be offered via email to a limited standby list starting at 12 Noon on Friday, September 23 on a first-come, first-served basis. One or two tickets may be purchased by winners for $5 each.

The cast of A Life features Marinda Anderson (Far From Heaven at Playwrights, Sex of the Baby, Every Good Girl, Macbeth), Brad Heberlee (Small Mouth Sounds, These Paper Bullets!, The Thugs), two-time Audelco nominee Nedra McClyde (Mr. Burns at Playwrights, Lost Lake, Headstrong, Miss Evers' Boys), Lynne McCollough (Angels in America, The Thugs, Dot, Cavedweller) and beloved stage and television star, Tony Award winner and Emmy Award winner David Hyde Pierce (The Heidi Chronicles, The Maderati at Playwrights; "Frasier"; Broadway's Curtains, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Monty Python's Spamalot, the upcoming Hello, Dolly!). Prior to rehearsals beginning, MS. Anderson stepped in for previously-announced cast member Cindy Cheung, due to a scheduling conflict.

Nate Martin (Mr. Pierce) is hopelessly single. When his most recent breakup, another in A Lifelong string of ill-fated matches, casts him into a funk, he turns to the only source of wisdom he trusts: the stars. Poring over astrological charts, he obsessively questions his past and his place in the cosmos. But in Adam Bock's disarming new play, the answer he receives, when it comes, is shockingly obvious - and totally unpredictable.

The production will feature scenic design by Laura Jellinek, costume design by Jessica Pabst, lighting design by Matt Frey and sound design by Mikhail Fiksel. Production Stage Manager is Erin Gioia Albrecht.

Also reflecting Playwrights Horizons' ongoing commitment to making its productions more affordable to younger audiences, the theater company will offer HOTtix, $30 rush tickets, subject to availability, day of performance only, starting one hour before showtime, to patrons aged 30 and under. Proof of age required. One ticket per person, per purchase. Cash only.

LIVEforFIVE and HOTtix are two of Playwrights Horizons' popular Arts Access initiatives, which allow the institution to reach out to those who may not be able to afford the cost of a full-price theater ticket. This program is supported, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, McGraw Hill Financial and an anonymous Individual Donor.

Currently playing at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater is the just-opened AUBERGINE, the New York premiere of a new play by Julia Cho, directed by Kate Whoriskey. Following AUBERGINE and A Life, the Playwrights Horizons 2016/2017 Season will continue with RANCHO VIEJO, the world premiere of a new play by Dan LeFranc, directed by three-time Obie Award winner Daniel Aukin and commissioned by Playwrights Horizons with the support of the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust (previews begin November 11); THE LIGHT YEARS, the world premiere of a new play written by Drama Desk Award winner Hannah Bos and Obie Award winner Paul Thureen, directed and developed by Obie Award winner Oliver Butler, made by The Debate Society (previews begin February 17); THE PROFANE, the world premiere of a new play by Zayd Dohrn, directed by Kip Fagan (previews begin March 17) and BELLA: AN AMERICAN TALL TALE, the co-world premiere of a new musical with book, music and lyrics by Obie Award winner Kirsten Childs, directed by two-time Obie Award winner Robert O'Hara and commissioned by Playwrights Horizons through the Musicals in Partnership Initiative with funds provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (previews begin May 19). This production will first be staged at Dallas Theatre Center this fall (September 22-October 23).