Schwimmer to Direct Off-Broadway Premiere of Belber's 'Fault Lines'

New York’s eternally boundary-pushing theater company Naked Angels (Geoffrey Nauffts, Artistic Director and Brittany O’Neill, Managing Director) has announced that it will present the Off Broadway premiere of Fault Lines, a new play by Stephen Belber, directed by David Schwimmer.  Performances begin Monday, September 22 at The Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street), with opening night set for Tuesday, September 30 at 8 p.m. Fault Lines replaces the previously scheduled The Talk by Frank Pugliese, which has been cancelled.

The cast for Fault Lines will include (in alphabetical order) Noah Emmerich, Dominic Fumusa, Josh Lucas and Jennifer Mudge. This production is presented by Dark Harbor Stories and Olympus Theatricals in association with New York Stage and Film, and The Araca Group.  Fault Lines was developed during New York Stage and Film’s 2008 Powerhouse Season on the Vassar campus.

Artistic Director Geoffrey Nauffts commented, "Having had such a wonderfully collaborative experience with Steve on our production of Tape in New York, Los Angeles and London, Naked Angels is thrilled to be teaming up with him once again for what just might be arguably his most hilariously disturbing play yet."

Whole Foods, Edie Brickell and mini-hot dogs abound in this dark and twisted new comedy, in which a seemingly ordinary boys night out turns sour for two friends when a stranger forces them to delineate the boundaries between loyalty, conviction and betrayal.

The creative team for Fault Lines includes Cameron Anderson (set design), Jason Lyons (lighting design), Mattie Ullrich (costume design), Bart Fasbender (sound design) and Matt Hodges (props).

Fault Lines will play the following schedule:  Thursday through Saturday and Monday at 8:00 p.m., Tuesday and Sunday at 7:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 p.m.  Tickets go on sale September 4, are $60.00 and are available through Telecharge at 212-239-2969 or by visiting www.telecharge.com.

As previously announced, Naked Angels will present the world premiere of The Gospel According to Adam, a new American play by Geoffrey Nauffts, at The Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Playwrights Horizons, December 7 – January 18, with an opening night on December 17.  The cast and creative team for The Gospel According to Adam will be announced shortly.

Stephen Belber’s (playwright) plays include Match (Broadway, Tony nomination for Frank Langella), A Small, Melodramatic Story, (LAByrinth Theater Company), McReele (Roundabout), Tape (Naked Angels--NYC/LA/London), Carol Mulroney (Huntington Theater), One Million Butterflies (Primary Stages), Drifting Elegant (Magic Theater), The Transparency of Val (Theater Outrageous, NYC), The Wake (Via Theater, NYC), Through Fred (Soho Rep) and The Death of Frank (Araca Group, NYC).  As a screenwriter, he wrote Tape, directed by Richard Linklater, starring Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke (Sundance; Berlin);  The Laramie Project (co-writer) for HBO Films, (Sundance, Emmy nomination for screenwriting); and Drifting Elegant, directed by Amy Glazer.  TV credits include Rescue Me and Law & Order SVU, (staff writer). His film, Management, which he wrote and directed, starring Jennifer Aniston, Steve Zahn and Woody Harrelson, premieres at the Toronto Film Festival this September.  His most recent play, Geometry of Fire, will premiere at New York’s Rattlestick Playwrights Theater this November.

David Schwimmer (director) recently directed Little Britain USA for HBO and acted in the film Nothing But The Truth for Rod Lurie. He is the co-founder of Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre Company where he has acted in or directed many productions, including The Master and Margarita, West, Eye of the Beholder, The Odyssey, The Idiot, The Arabian Nights, and his adaptations of Studs Terkel’s book RACE and Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.  He starred in the Los Angeles premieres of Roger Kumble’s D Girl and Turnaround, Warren Leight’s Glimmer Brothers at Williamstown Theatre Festival, and Neil LaBute’s Some Girl(s) in London as well as The Caine Mutiny Court Martial on Broadway.  Notable television and film credits include Madagascar I & II, Duane Hopwood, Big Nothing, Band of Brothers, “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Six Days Seven Nights, Apt Pupil, The Pallbearer and the series Friends, for which he received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor.  His film debut as a director is the UK hit comedy Run, Fat Boy, Run, starring Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton and Hank Azaria.

Noah Emmerich (Joe) burst onto the Hollywood scene with his feature film debut in Ted Demme’s critically acclaimed Beautiful Girls alongside Matt Dillon, Uma Thurman and Natalie Portman.  Soon after, Emmerich returned to the big screen in another highly praised film, Peter Weir’s The Truman Show alongside Jim Carrey and Laura Linney.  Most recently, he appeared on screen in Todd Field’s Academy Award-nominated Little Children with Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly and Jackie Earle Haley.  Emmerich marks his third collaboration with director Gavin O’Connor (following Miracle in 2004 and Tumbleweeds in 1999) as the role of Francis Tierney, Jr. in Pride & Glory.  Also starring Edward Norton, Colin Farrell and Jon Voight, the film is scheduled for release in October 2008.  Other notable credits include Miracle with Kurt Russell, Beyond Borders with Angelina Jolie and Clive Owen, Windtalkers with Nicolas Cage, Frequency with Dennis Quaid, Cop Land with Sylvester Stallone, Robert DeNiro and Ray Liotta, and Monument Ave with Denis Leary, Billy Crudup and Martin Sheen.  He last appeared on stage as Mitch in The Kennedy Center’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire, opposite Patricia Clarkson and Amy Ryan, directed by Garry Hynes. Emmerich studied filmmaking at New York University where he wrote and directed the short film The Painter which won the Cine Award in Washington, D.C. and the International Film Festival of Barcelona, Spain.  His second directing effort, The Date, won the Short Comedy Award at Houston’s Worldfest Film Festival.  Emmerich is an honors graduate of Yale University with a degree in history.  He was born and raised in New York City, where he currently resides.

Dominic Fumusa (Jim) In New York and London, Dominic Fumusa originated the role of 'Toddy Koovitz' in Richard Greenberg's Tony winning Take Me Out (Joe Mantello, dir.).  In New York, London, and Los Angeles, he originated the character of 'Vince' in Stephen Belber's Tape (Geoff Nauffts, dir.).   Also in New York, he originated the role of 'Theo' in Melissa James Gibson's Obie-winning [sic] (Daniel Aukin, dir.).  Mr. Fumusa made his Broadway debut opposite Marisa Tomei in Wait Until Dark.  Other NY credits include A Flea in Her Ear (Roundabout Theater Company, Bill Irwin, dir.).  Mr. Fumusa portrayed Mitch Albom in a six-month, twelve-city national tour of Tuesdays with Morrie, opposite Harold Gould.   Regional credits include plays at the Guthrie, Huntington Theatre, Kennedy Center, Actors Theater of Louisville, Williamstown Theatre Festival, NY Stage & Film, the Stratford Festival of Canada, and Chicago Shakespeare Festival.  Mr. Fumusa's TV credits include "Sex and the City," "The Sopranos," "Brotherhood," the "Law & Order" franchise, the "CSI" franchise, "NYPD Blue," "Hack," "Numb3rs," "Threshold" and "Bones."  Film credits include the soon-to-be- released Management (Stephen Belber, wr/dir), Staten Island, This is a Story about Ted & Alice (2008 Cannes), Dealbreaker (Gwyneth Paltrow, dir.), Grilled (opposite Burt Reynolds), The Guru, Dobermann (narrator) and Chloe's Prayer.

Josh Lucas (Bill) was most recently seen in the critically acclaimed documentary, "Trumbo." In 2007, Lucas collaborated with film legend Ken Burns on the controversial documentary, "The War." Lucas’ other documentary work includes Operation Homecoming, which was nominated for an Oscar, and the HBO documentary, "Resolved." Lucas can next be seen in Michael Cuesta’s "Tell-Tale," in which he stars as a single father whose recently transplanted heart leads him on a frantic search to find the donor’s killer.  In 2006, he completed his first venture into production through his company, Two Bridges, with "The Boy in the Box."  Some of Lucas’ film credits include Jerry Bruckheimer's Glory Road, Wolfgang Petersen's Poseidon, Lasse Hallstrom's An Unfinished Life, David Gordon Green's Undertow, Ang Lee's Hulk, Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind, Sweet Home Alabama, Wonderland, American Psycho, and You Can Count on Me.   Lucas’ theatre credits include the critically successful off-Broadway run of Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell, the Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, Terrence McNally's Corpus Christi, Christopher Shinn's What Didn't Happen, and The Picture of Dorian Grey.  Lucas resides in New York City.

Jennifer Mudge (Jess) recently appeared in The Westport Country Playhouse production of Scramble!  She appeared as Sara Murphy in Villa America at Williamstown Theatre Festival, and was nominated for a 2007 Drama Desk Award for her performance opposite Dulé Hill in Amiri Baraka’s controversial Dutchman, at the Cherry Lane Theatre.  She also played Maggie in Gil Cates’ Geffen Playhouse production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opposite John Goodman and Brenda Fricker. New York Theater: Craig Wright’s Drama Desk-nominated The Pavilion, directed by Lucie Tiberghien (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater); world premiere of Terrence McNally’s The Stendhal Syndrome (Primary Stages); Reckless (Broadway); Rose’s Dilemma (Manhattan Theatre Club); Only the End of the World (Company Charniere).  Regional: Arena Stage; Bay Street Theatre; Alabama Shakespeare Festival; Contemporary American Theater Festival; Sundance Theatre Institute; Williamstown Theater Festival; and five seasons as a member of Trinity Repertory Company under Oskar Eustis’ artistic direction, including Saint Joan, Othello, The Music Man, As You Like It, Into the Woods, Angels in America, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  Independent features: Drifting Elegant (Mill Valley Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, among others), by Stephen Belber and Play It by Ear. TV: “Life is Wild”, “Canterbury’s Law”, “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”, “Hope & Faith”, “Law and Order”, “Hack”, various soaps. Training: MFA, Trinity Repertory.   2007 recipient of the Marian Seldes-Garson Kanin Fellowship.

Naked Angels was formed in 1986 by a group of restless and ambitious artists reacting to a void in the theater community for new and creative voices. The company took its name from John Tytell’s book, Naked Angels, which referred to Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and other Beats as “a generation that wanted to break out of convention and scream.” As a young group, the company felt the same way; they needed a place where, through the medium of theater, they could show the world a different perspective of our times. Sometimes outraged, often irreverent, occasionally absurd, and always intelligent, enthusiastic and fun, Naked Angels’ work was a spark to which audiences were quickly drawn. The Space, as their theater on 17th Street was known, soon became a vital, thriving crossroads where talented theater artists met and collaborated: the destination of choice for those seeking a truly celebratory theatrical experience. Though it’s been quite a few years since they’ve had a home of their own, that spirit continues today wherever and whenever Naked Angels produces.

Dedication to the emerging artist has lead to the company’s reputation for developing and producing outstanding, innovative plays. Over the years, Naked Angels has presented hundreds of readings, workshops, and full-scale productions. From Warren Leight’s Tony Award-winning Side Man to Jon Robin Baitz’s The Substance of Fire, Kenneth Lonergan’s The Starry Messenger to David Marshall Grant’s Snakebit, Naked Angels has always been a place where new work flourishes. Some of the company’s more recent efforts, Stephen Belber’s Tape, Will Eno’s Thom Pain (based on nothing), Elizabeth Meriwether’s The Mistakes Madeline Made, and Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell have gone on to receive critical acclaim both here and abroad.

For more information please visit www.nakedangels.com

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