Sarah Ruhl's FOR PETER PAN ON HER 70th BIRTHDAY, Starring Kathleen Chalfant, Begins Rehearsals Next Week Off-Broadway

Rehearsals are set to begin on Tuesday, July 25 for the Playwrights Horizons New York premiere production of For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, a new play by two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award nominee Sarah Ruhl (Stage Kiss, Dead Man's Cell Phone at Playwrights; In the Next Room, or the vibrator play; The Clean House).

Directed by Obie Award winner Les Waters (The Christians, Doris to Darlene at Playwrights; Ms. Ruhl's In the Next Room, or the vibrator play; 10 Out of 12; Big Love; Artistic Director, Actors Theatre of Louisville), the play will be the opening production of the theater company's 2017/2018 Season. On that same date, tickets will go on sale to the general public.

As previously announced, the cast of For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday will feature Tony Award nominee and three-time Obie Award winner Kathleen Chalfant in the title role (Ms. Ruhl's Dead Man's Cell Phone at Playwrights, Wit, Angels in America, Ms. Ruhl's Dear Elizabeth), David Chandler (Doris to Darlene, Black Sea Follies at Playwrights; Lost in Yonkers; Death of a Salesman), Ron Crawford (The Grapes of Wrath, Outside Mulligan), two-time Obie Award winner Lisa Emery (Marjorie Prime, Marvin's Room at Playwrights; Casa Valentina; Iron; Curtains; Six Degrees of Separation), Tony Award nominee Daniel Jenkins (Ms. Ruhl's Stage Kiss at Playwrights, Big, Big River, Oslo) and Keith Reddin (Baby with the Bathwater at Playwrights as Actor; Highest Standard of Living, Life and Limb at Playwrights as Author; on Broadway in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike), as well as the canine talents of Macy.

The production will begin previews Friday, August 18 with an Opening Night set for Wednesday, September 13 at 7:30 PM at the company's Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street). The limited engagement is currently scheduled to play through Sunday, October 1.

Playing Peter Pan at her hometown children's theater is one of Ann's (Ms. Chalfant) fondest, most formative memories. Now, fifty years later, Neverland calls again, casting her and her siblings back to this faraway dreamscape where the refusal to grow up confronts the inevitability of growing old. In her highly anticipated return to Playwrights, Sarah Ruhl conjures a tender, yearning tale that flies in the face of time, in the search for a second youth.

The production will feature scenic design by Tony Award winner David Zinn, costume design by Kristopher Castle, lighting design by Matt Frey, sound design by Charles Coes and Obie Award winner Bray Poor. Animals by Tony Award-winning William Berloni Theatrical Animals and Flying Effects by ZFX, Inc. Production Stage Manager is Amanda Spooner.

FOR PETER PAN ON HER 70th BIRTHDAY had its world premiere at The 2016 Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville. (Louisville, KY) in March 2016, also directed by Les Waters. Writing in The New York Times, Charles Isherwood called it, "A work that is equal parts dark and light, recalling the ebullient excitement of youth, but also confronting the hard fact of mortality. Ruhl's imagination is among the most adventurous at play today in the theater."

Ms. Chalfant, Mr. Chandler, Mr. Crawford, Ms. Emery and Mr. Reddin appeared in the Humana production. Ms. Chalfant, Mr. Chandler, Mr. Crawford and Mr. Reddin also appeared in the subsequent production at Berkeley Repertory Company in May 2016.

Following For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, the Playwrights Horizons 2017/2018 Season will continue with the world premiere of THE TREASURER, a Playwrights Horizons commissioned new play by Max Posner, directed by three-time Lortel Award winner David Cromer (September 2017); MANKIND, the world premiere of a Playwrights Horizons commissioned new play written and directed by two-time Obie Award winner Robert O'Hara (December 2017); THIS FLAT EARTH, the world premiere of a new play by Lindsey Ferrentino, directed by Tony Award winner Rebecca Taichman (March 2018); DANCE NATION, the world premiere of a new play by Obie Award winner Clare Barron, directed by Obie Award winner Lee Sunday Evans (April 2018); and LOG CABIN, the world premiere of a new play by Pulitzer Prize finalist JorDan Harrison, directed by Tony Award and Obie Award winner Pam MacKinnon (June 2018).

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Sarah Ruhl's (Playwright) plays include For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday; The Oldest Boy; In the Next Room, or the vibrator play; The Clean House; Orlando; Late: a cowboy song; Dear Elizabeth; and Stage Kiss. She is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and a Tony Award nominee. Her plays have been produced on Broadway at The Lyceum Theatre by Lincoln Center Theater, Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage and at Lincoln Center's Mitzi Newhouse Theater. Her plays have been produced regionally all over the country and have also been produced internationally, and translated into over twelve languages. Ms. Ruhl received her M.F.A. from Brown University, where she studied with Paula Vogel. She has received the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Award, the Whiting Award, the Lily Award, a PEN Award for mid-career playwrights and the MacArthur "genius" award. Her book of essays 100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write was published by Faber and Faber last fall. She teaches at the Yale School of Drama and lives in Brooklyn with her family.

Les Waters (Director), Obie Award winner, recently directed Lucas Hnath's The Christians and JorDan Harrison's Doris to Darlene (both at Playwrights Horizons), Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas' Recent Alien Abductions, Macbeth, Sarah Ruhl's For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, Charles Mee's The Glory of the World, Thornton Wilder's Our Town, Will Eno's Gnit, Todd Almond's Girlfriend, Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night and Naomi Iizuka's At the Vanishing Point at Actors Theatre of Louisville, where he is Artistic Director. Waters previously directed Big Love by Charles Mee at the Humana Festival in 2000 (for which he won the 2001 Obie for Direction), as well as countless productions in New York at The Public Theater, Second Stage, Manhattan Theatre Club, Connelly Theater, Clubbed Thumb, and BAM Next Wave Festival, and regionally at theatres such as the Mark Taper Forum, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, The Goodman Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, American Conservatory Theater, La Jolla Playhouse and American Repertory Theater. From 2003 to 2011, he served as Associate Artistic Director at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and in 2009, he made his Broadway debut with In the next room...or the vibrator play. Les' productions have ranked among the year's best in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Time Out New York, Time Magazine and USA Today..

Kathleen Chalfant (Ann) originated this role in the world premiere production of For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday at Actors Theatre of Louisville and its subsequent production at Berkeley Rep. Playwrights Horizons: Dead Man's Cell Phone. Broadway: Angels in America (Tony, Drama Desk noms.), Racing Demon, Dance with Me. Off-Broadway: Wit (Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, Connecticut Critics Circle, Obie awards), A Walk in the Woods (Drama Desk nom.), Talking Heads (Obie Award), Nine Armenians (Drama Desk nom.), Henry V (Callaway Award). London/Los Angeles: Ovation Awards for Wit and Red Dog Howls. Select Film: Isn't it Delicious?, The Bath, Duplicity, Kinsey, Laramie Project. Select TV: "Doubt," "Madam Secretary," "The Affair," "House of Cards," "Rescue Me," "Law & Order." Awards: 1996 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence, 2004 Lortel Award for Sustained Excellence of Performance, 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award from the League of Professional Women.

David Chandler (Jim) originated this role in the world premiere production of For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday at Actors Theatre of Louisville and its subsequent production at Berkeley Rep. Playwrights Horizons: Doris to Darlene, Black Sea Follies. Broadway: Lost in Yonkers, Death of a Salesman, The American Clock. Off-Broadway: Slavs! (NYTW), The Swan (NYSF), The Peninsula (Soho Rep.), Underneath the Lintel (Soho Playhouse), Private Jokes and Private Places (La Mama), Cellini (Second Stage), The Grey Zone (MCC), Phaedra (Vineyard), Watbanaland (WPA). Film: Hide and Seek, The Undeserved, The Grey Zone. TV: "Law & Order," "Criminal Intent," "SVU," "Seinfeld," "Third Rock From the Sun."

Ron Crawford (George) originated this role in the world premiere production of For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday at Actors Theatre of Louisville and its subsequent production at Berkeley Rep. Playwrights Horizons debut. Broadway: The Grapes of Wrath, Outside Mulligan. Off-Broadway: The Invisible Hand (HERE), White Woman Street (Irish Rep). Regional: The Crucible, A Raisin in the Sun, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Of Mice and Men, Ragtime, The Night of the Iguana, A Christmas Carol. One-man show: Travels with Mark Twain. Film: Arthur and the Invisibles 1, 2 and 3; Blood Ties; Sweet Little Lies. TV: "Deadbeat," "Law & Order," "Spin City."

Lisa Emery (Wendy) originated this role in the world premiere production of For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Playwrights Horizons: Marjorie Prime (also world premiere at The Mark Taper Forum), Marvin's Room (Drama Desk nomination). Broadway: Casa Valentina, Relatively Speaking, The Smell of the Kill, The Women, Present Laughter, Jackie, Burn This, Rumors, Six Degrees of Separation. Off-Broadway: A Funny Thing...New York City, The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin, Lonely I'm Not, Sex Lives of Our Parents, Gabriel, Distracted, Abigail's Party, Hot 'N' Throbbing, Iron (Obie Award), Dinner with Friends, Curtains (Obie Award). Film: Unfaithful, In & Out. TV: "Jessica Jones," "Elementary," "Damages," "Ed," "Sex and the City."

Daniel Jenkins (John). Playwrights Horizons: Ms. Ruhl's Stage Kiss, Young Playwrights Festival-1993. Broadway: Big River (1985, Tony Award nomination & 2003), Big, Golden Boy, Mary Poppins, Angels in America, Billy Elliot, Oslo. Off-Broadway: Sex Lives of Our Parents (Second Stage); Oslo, Spinning Into Butter (Lincoln Center); Bye Bye Birdie, The Pajama Game (Encores!); Dream True, A Maiden's Prayer (Vineyard); Triumph of Love (CSC), his own Love Child (Primary Stages). Film: Cradle Will Rock, Glory. TV: "Bull," "Elementary," "Orange Is the New Black," "Happyish," "Veep," "The Good Wife," "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial."

Keith Reddin (Michael) originated this role in the world premiere production of For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday at Actors Theatre of Louisville and its subsequent production at Berkeley Rep. Playwrights Horizons as actor: Baby with the Bathwater; as author: Highest Standard of Living, Life and Limb. Broadway: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, The Play's the Thing, A Taste of Honey. Off-Broadway as writer: Frame 312, Brutality of Fact, Innocents Crusade, Life During Wartime, Rum and Coke; as actor: Barefoot Boy with Shoes on, Durang/Durang, Fortinbras, Angel of Death, Abundance, The Master Builder, The Entertainer. Film: Lolita, Revolutionary Road, Big.

Playwrights Horizons is dedicated to cultivating the most important American Playwrights, composers and lyricists, as well as developing and producing their bold new plays and musicals. Under Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, Playwrights builds upon its diverse and renowned body of work, counting 400 writers among its artistic roster. In addition to its onstage work each season, Playwrights' singular commitment to nurturing American theater artists guides all of the institution's multifaceted initiatives: our acclaimed New Works Lab, a robust commissioning program, an innovative curriculum at its Theater School and more. Playwrights has been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including six Pulitzer Prizes, 13 Tony Awards and 39 Obie Awards. Prior artistic directors include André Bishop and Don Scardino. Robert Moss founded Playwrights Horizons in 1971 and oversaw its first decade, cementing the mission that continues to guide the institution today.

Notable productions include six Pulitzer Prize winners - Annie Baker's The Flick (2013 Obie Award, 2013 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize), Bruce Norris's Clybourne Park (2012 Tony Award, Best Play), Doug Wright's I Am My Own Wife (2004 Tony Award, Best Play), Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles (1989 Tony Award, Best Play), Alfred Uhry's Driving Miss Daisy and Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George - as well as Ms. Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation (three 2010 Obie Awards including Best New American Play); Lisa D'Amour's Detroit (2013 Obie Award, Best New American Play); Samuel D. Hunter's The Whale (2013 Lortel Award, Best Play); Kirsten Greenidge's Milk Like Sugar (2012 Obie Award); JorDan Harrison's Marjorie Prime (2015 Pulitzer finalist); Lucas Hnath's The Christians (2016 Obie Award, 2016 Outer Critics Circle Award, 2015 Kesselring Prize); Robert O'Hara's Bootycandy (two 2015 Obie Awards); Adam Bock's A Life and A Small Fire; Taylor Mac's Hir; Danai Gurira's Familiar; Anne Washburn's Mr. Burns, a post-electric play; Sarah Ruhl's Stage Kiss and Dead Man's Cell Phone; Gina Gionfriddo's Rapture, Blister, Burn; Dan LeFranc's The Big Meal; Amy Herzog's The Great God Pan and After the Revolution; Bathsheba Doran's Kin; Edward Albee's Me, Myself & I; Melissa James Gibson's This (2010 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist); Doug Wright, Scott Frankel and Michael Korie's Grey Gardens (three 2007 Tony Awards); Craig Lucas's Prayer For My Enemy and Small Tragedy (2004 Obie Award, Best American Play); Adam Rapp's Kindness; Lynn Nottage's Fabulation (2005 Obie Award for Playwriting); Kenneth Lonergan's Lobby Hero; David Greenspan's She Stoops to Comedy (2003 Obie Award); Kirsten Childs's The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin (2000 Obie Award); Richard Nelson and Shaun Davey's James Joyce's The Dead (2000 Tony Award, Best Book); Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's Assassins; William Finn's March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland; Christopher Durang's Betty's Summer Vacation and Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You; Richard Nelson's Goodnight Children Everywhere; Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's Once on This Island; Jon Robin Baitz's The Substance of Fire; Scott McPherson's Marvin's Room; A.R. Gurney's Later Life; Adam Guettel and Tina Landau's Floyd Collins; and Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley's Violet.