Playwrights Horizons Presents THE RETRIBUTIONISTS 8/21 Through 9/27, Opens 9/15

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) kicks off its 2009/2010 Season with the World Premiere of THE RETRIBUTIONISTS, a new play by Daniel Goldfarb (Modern Orthodox, Adam Baum and the Jew Movie).

Directed by Leigh Silverman (Coraline; Well; From Up Here; plus Blue Door at Playwrights Horizons), the production will begin previews on Friday, August 21 with an Opening Night set for Tuesday, September 15 at 7PM. The limited engagement will run through Sunday, September 27 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

The seven-member cast will be headed by Adam Driver (2009 Juilliard School graduate), Margarita Levieva (Impressionism, the films Adventureland and the upcoming Spread opposite Ashton Kutcher, "Kings"), Cristin Milioti (the recent Stunning at LCT3, Coram Boy, The Lieutenant of Inishmore) and Adam Rothenberg (Danny and the Deep Blue Sea at Second Stage, A Streetcar Named Desire at the Kennedy Center, the film Tennessee opposite Mariah Carey). The cast will also feature Hamilton Clancy (Dog Logic at American Place Theater, the films Burn After Reading and American Gangster), Rebecca Henderson (Three Sisters at CSC) and Jefferson Award winner Lusia Strus (for Go Away, Go Away, plus Henry IV with the RSC and It Ain't No Fairy Tale with Steppenwolf).

Set in spring 1946, THE RETRIBUTIONISTS concerns a simple plan - a German for every Jew. Its execution would be swift, clean, its impact undeniable. In this daring, new romantic thriller inspired by actual events, a band of young Jewish freedom fighters attempts to avenge a society's wrongs - if only they can keep from tearing each other apart in the process.

The production will feature scenic design by Tony Award winner Derek McLane (33 Variations), costume design by Tony Award winner Susan Hilferty (Wicked), lighting design by Tony Award winner Peter Kaczorowski (The Producers), sound design by Jill BC DuBoff and original music by two-time Tony Award winner Tom Kitt (Next To Normal). Production Stage Manager is Bess Marie Glorioso.

Playwrights Horizons' season productions are generously supported by The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.

Playwrights Horizons is supported in part by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate. In addition, Playwrights Horizons receives major support from Carnegie Corporation of New York, Charina Endowment Fund, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Shubert Foundation and Time Warner Inc.

The performance schedule for THE RETRIBUTIONISTS will be Tuesdays through Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 2:30 & 8PM and Sundays at 2:30 & 7:30 PM. There will be an additional performance on Monday evening, September 14 at 8PM. Tickets are $65 and will go on sale to the general public starting Wednesday, July 29. Tickets may be purchased online via TicketCentral.com, by phone at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily), or in person at the Ticket Central Box Office, 416 West 42nd Street (between Ninth & Tenth Avenues).

A ticketing initiative created as part of the theater company's Arts Access program, LIVEforFIVE makes available $5 tickets for the first preview performance of each Playwrights Horizons production through a lottery via the company's website. The LIVEforFIVE lottery for THE RETRIBUTIONISTS will be for tickets to the first preview on Friday, August 21 at 8 PM. Details for the lottery are as follows: beginning Wednesday, August 12 at 10 AM, theatergoers can enter the lottery by filling out an entry form at www.playwrightshorizons.org. Entries will be accepted until Monday, August 17 at 12 Noon. Winners of the lottery will be notified via email no later than 3:00 PM on Monday, August 17 with instructions on how to book their $5 tickets. Unclaimed tickets will be offered via email starting at 12 Noon on Tuesday, August 18 on a first-come, first-served basis. One or two tickets may be purchased for $5 each. At least 50 tickets will be available for Mainstage shows via the lottery.

Reflecting Playwrights Horizons' ongoing commitment to making its productions more affordable to younger audiences, the theater company will offer HOTtix, $20 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. STUDENT RUSH, $15 rush tickets, subject to availability, day of performance only, starting one hour before curtain to full-time graduate and undergraduate students. One ticket per person, per purchase. Valid student ID required.

LIVEforFIVE, HOTtix and STUDENT RUSH are some 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 Companies and the Elroy and Terry Krumholz Foundation.

A special open captioned performance of THE RETRIBUTIONISTS for theatergoers who are deaf and hard of hearing will be held on Saturday, August 29 at 2:30 PM. Funding for this program is provided, in part, by the Theodore H. Barth Foundation and the Theatre Development Fund's TAP Plus program in cooperation with the New York State Council on the Arts.

How to order tickets for the open captioned performance:

* Online: log on to www.playwrightshorizons.org.
* Phone: call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily) via Relay Service (800) 421-1220
* TTY: call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 (noon-8pm daily) via Relay Service (800) 662-1220
* By fax: a printable order form may be found online at www.playwrightshorizons.org/tickets.html

In addition, special Post-Performance Discussions with members of the cast and creative team will take place immediately after the following three performances: Wednesday evening, August 26 at 8PM, Wednesday evening, September 2 at 8PM and Sunday matinee, September 6 at 2:30 PM.

For subscription and ticket information to all Playwrights Horizons productions, call TICKET CENTRAL at (212) 279-4200, Noon to 8PM daily, or purchase online at the Playwrights Horizons website at www.playwrightshorizons.org.

Daniel Goldfarb (Playwright). New York: Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me on Broadway; Modern Orthodox at New World Stages; Sarah, Sarah at Manhattan Theater Club; Adam Baum and the Jew Movie at Blue Light Theater Company (2000 NY Newsday Oppenheimer Award, 2003 Canadian Authors Association Award for Best Play, 2000 Dramatist's Guild Hull-Warriner Award Finalist). Regional: Party Come Here at Williamstown Theatre Festival; Jerry Christmas at New York Stage and Film; Long Wharf, CanStage, etc. He is writing the book for Radio Girl, the musical adaptation of the Shirley Temple film Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, with Henry Krieger and Susan Birkenhead. Commissions: Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout Theatre Company, South Coast Repertory Theatre. Grants: AT&T Onstage, Lincoln Center Lecomte du Nouy Foundation, The Jerome Foundation, NEA. Film/Television: pilots for Showtime and CBS; screenplays for HBO, Chicago Films, Bureau of Moving Pictures. Education: The Juilliard School, NYU (BFA, MFA - now teaches playwriting there). Member: The Dramatist's Guild, WGA, MCC's Playwrights Coalition.

Leigh Silverman (Director) last worked at Playwrights Horizons directing Tanya Barfield's Blue Door (Audelco nomination for Best Director). Broadway: Lisa Kron's Well. Off-Broadway credits include Stephin Merritt & David Greenspan's recent musical Coraline (MCC Theatre), Liz Flahive's From Up Here (Manhattan Theatre Club, Drama Desk nomination); David Henry Hwang's Yellow Face (co-production Center Theatre Group/The Public Theater); Beebo Brinker Chronicles (Hourglass Group/37 Arts); Brooke Berman's Hunting and Gathering (Primary Stages); Well (The Public Theater, The Huntington Theater and ACT, San Francisco); Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (Second Stage Theatre); The Five Lesbian Brothers' Oedipus At Palm Springs (New York Theatre Workshop); Eve Ensler's The Treatment (The Culture Project); Neena Beber's Jump/Cut (Woolly Mammoth Theatre/Theater J and Women's Project); and Big Times (W.E.T.). West End: Wit (Vaudeville Theatre). Other recent regional productions include The Road to Mecca (Seattle Repertory Theatre); Tanya Barfield's Of Equal Measure (Center Theatre Group) and Blue Door (Seattle Repertory Theater). Upcoming projects include Lisa Kron's 5 Questions and Heidi Schreck's Creature.

Hamilton Clancy (Gustav) has been the artistic director of The Drilling Company since 1999. Recent: Ralph in the New York premiere of C. Denby Swanson's Atomic Farmgirl, Trish Harnetiaux's The Significance of Louden Taser. Off-Broadway: Dog Logic (American Place Theatre). New York's Shakespeare in the Parking Lot: Henry V, Hamlet, Benedick, Petruchio. Film: Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading, American Gangster. TV: "The Unusuals," "Life on Mars," "Third Watch."

Adam Driver (Dov Kaplinsky) is a 2009 Juilliard School graduate where his many credits included Burn This, Julius Caesar, Buried Child, The Cherry Orchard, Street Scene, True West and All My Sons and he twice won an Irene Ryan Award. New York/Regional theater includes Cipher at the Clurman Theater and Sunflower and Blue at Theater on the Square. Film and TV: My Brother's Keeper, "The Unusuals," "The Wonderful Maladys."

Rebecca Henderson (Christine). Theater credits include Three Sisters and The Misanthrope (CSC), Canary (Rattlestick), Spin and Vengeance (StageFARM), U.S. Drag (The Beckett) and bobbraunschenbergamerica (American Repertory Theatre). International work includes The Maids (tour), Dr. Faustus (Berlin), Scapin (Italy) and Old Times and A Midsummer Night's Dream (both Canada).

Margarita Levieva (Anika Stoller), Russian-born, was a member of the Russian rhythmic gymnastics Olympic team. She appeared on Broadway in Impressionism and was recently seen in the film Adventureland as Lisa P. and on the NBC series "Kings" as Claudia. Additional Film and TV credits include the upcoming Spread opposite Ashton Kutcher, Noise, The Invisible, Marcy in the series "Vanished," "The Prince," "NY-70" and "Law & Order: Trial By Jury." In 2005, she was named one of 50 Most Beautiful People in New York by New York Magazine.

Cristin Milioti (Dinchka Fried). Broadway: Coram Boy, The Lieutenant of Inishmore. Off-Broadway: Stunning (LCT3), Some Americans Abroad (Second Stage), Crooked (Women's Project), The Devil's Disciple (Irish Rep Theater). Film and TV: Year of the Carnivore, Greetings from the Shore, "The Unusuals," "The Sopranos," "3 lb."

Adam Rothenberg (Jascha Pinsker). Theater credits include Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (Second Stage), A Streetcar Named Desire (Kennedy Center), Lady Windermere's Fan and Mother of Invention (Williamstown), Birdy (The Women's Project). Film and TV: Mad Money, Tennessee opposite Mariah Carey, "Damages," "The Ex List," "Conviction," "NY 70," "The Jury."

Lusia Strus (Ute) earned a Jefferson Award as Leading Actress for her performance in Go Away, Go Away with European Repertory Theatre. Additional credits include her solo show It Ain't No Fairy Tale, plus Hysteria and Our Town (all for Steppenwolf); Merry Wives of Windsor and Love's Labours Lost (Chicago Shakespeare); Big Love (Goodman); and Henry IV with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Film and TV: Miss Congeniality 2, Fifty First Dates, "Crossing Jordan."

For more information, visit www.playwrightshorizons.org.

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