Richard Maxwell's ISOLDE to Begin Next Month at Theatre for a New Audience

Theatre for a New Audience, Jeffrey Horowitz Founding Artistic Director, presents New York City Players' Isolde, a new American play about memory, identity, the ephemeral, and infidelity, written and directed by internationally acclaimed experimental director and playwright Richard Maxwell.

Isolde, which features New York City Players veterans Jim Fletcher, Brian Mendes, Tory Vazquez, and Gary Wilmes, begins previews Sunday, September 6, at 7:30pm for an opening on Thursday, September 10, at 7:00pm. The run is scheduled through September 27 at Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place.

Mr. Maxwell was described by Ben Brantley of The New York Times as "one of the few truly original experimental theater auteurs."

In its sold-out U.S. premiere at Abrons Arts Center in 2014, Isolde could only play nine performances and received critical acclaim: "Graphic and elegant" (Hilton Als, The New Yorker); "Five Stars...The quartet works at an incredible, precise pitch" (Helen Shaw, Time Out New York).

Mr. Horowitz said, "Richard Maxwell is a writer who makes us hear and a director who stages with an exquisite feeling for truth. His plays are seen in New York, nationally, and internationally but often in festivals or theaters for a few performances. I'm thrilled Isolde will have a longer run at Theater for a New Audience so that it's able to be seen by a larger audience and as part of our season alongside Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Strindberg."

Mr. Maxwell's Isolde is inspired by the legend of Tristan and Isolde. In his play, the marriage of Patrick and Isolde appears happy. Patrick is the owner of a successful construction company and Isolde is a star actress. But Isolde finds herself increasingly unable to remember her lines. When she decides to build her dream house, her husband is eager to help. But, the project is jeopardized by Massimo, an award-winning architect whom Isolde hires:

"MASSIMO: (to Patrick) I'm just trying to get into the planning a little bit; what do you both feel like you physically need?

ISOLDE: I don't need anything. I want this because I can have it. If you think there's something I need, then you don't know me."

Asked in Interview magazine why he was inspired to write a contemporary play based on Tristan and Isolde, Mr Maxwell replied, "It was a total accident, as far as I know. It was determined by my sub-conscious. I wrote a play that involved a love triangle before I knew anything about Tristan and Isolde. And then I had a dream, and in the dream the title came to me: Isolde. So, I went and looked it up, and I saw these parallels. My original impulse started with the idea of having a character who is an actress who was having trouble remembering her lines. That, coupled with a couple trying to realize a 'dream home' - those two things fused together in my mind."

"ISOLDE: Yes! Function is beauty, it takes us out of the past, answers the future. Don't erect a monument just to hold on to something...no, take us past something worn away..."

Richard Maxwell is the artistic director of New York City Players. He is a Doris Duke Performing Artist. Mr. Maxwell has been selected for a Guggenheim Fellowship, two Obie awards, a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grant, and he was an invited artist in the Whitney Biennial (2012). He is the recipient of the 2014 Spalding Gray Award and his book, Theater for Beginners, was published this year by TCG.

New York City Players is a theater company founded by Maxwell in 1999. New York City Players has been presented in New York and in over twenty countries and has received national and international recognition, including five Obie Awards. www.nycplayers.org

Set and Light Design for Isolde is by Sascha van Riel, Original Costume Design is by Romy Springsguth, Additional Costume Pieces are by Kaye Voyce, and the Production Stage Manager is Rachel Gross.

Isolde was developed in part at Theater Basel, where it received its first production in September 2013, and was later presented at La Filature in Mulhouse, France and at Abrons Arts Center in New York City.

New York City Players' Isolde runs September 6 through 27 and performs Tuesday through Sunday evenings at 7:30pm with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00pm. There is no matinee on Sunday, September 6, and opening night on Thursday, September 10, has a 7:00pm curtain time.

Single tickets, on sale now, are $55-$85 and may be purchased online at www.tfana.org, by phone at 866-811-4111, or in person at the Theatre for a New Audience Box Office (262 Ashland Place). Box office hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 1:00pm to 6:00pm. A limited number of premium seats are available for $100.

New Deal tickets for ages 30 and under or full-time students of any age are priced at $20 each and are now available for purchase. Theatre for a New Audience's New Deal Ticket Program is supported by Macy's.

Subscriptions for Theatre for a New Audience's 2015-2016 Season include a Four-Play Package for $196, a Three-Play Package for $156, and a Flex Pass Package for $216. Subscriptions may be purchased at www.tfana.org/season or by calling (212) 229-2819, ext. 10.

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