Signature's THE PAINTED ROCKS AT REVOLVER CREEK Begins Tonight

Signature Theatre has announced a one week extension for the world premiere of The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek, written and directed by Athol Fugard. The production begins performances tonight, April 21 and will now run through June 7 with a May 11 opening night in The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues).

The cast includes Bianca Amato (LCT's Macbeth) as Elmarie, Leon Addison Brown (Signature's The Train Driver) as Nukain, Caleb McLaughlin (The Lion King) as Bokkie, Tony Award nominee Sahr Ngaujah (Fela!) as Jonathan.

Athol Fugard, Signature's 2012 Playwright-in-Residence and winner of the 2011 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, returns with a new play suggested by the life of outsider artist Nukain Mabusa. Aging farm laborer Nukain has spent his life transforming the rocks at Revolver Creek, South Africa, into a vibrant garden of painted flowers. Now, the final unpainted rock, as well as his young companion Bokkie, has forced Nukain to confront his legacy as a painter, a person and a black man in 1980s South Africa. When the landowner's wife arrives with demands about the painting, the profound rifts of a country hurtling toward the end of apartheid are laid bare.

The design team includes Christopher H. Barreca (Scenic Design), Susan Hilferty (Costume Design), Stephen Strawbridge (Lighting Design), Stowe Nelson (Sound Design), Barbara Rubin (Dialect Coach). Linda Marvel is the Production Stage Manager. Casting by Telsey + Company, Karyn Casl, CSA.

Supplemental programming has been set for The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek. There will be post-show talkbacks on April 28, May 14, 19, 26. Talkbacks brought to you by American Express. Signature will also continue its World of the Play series on May 16 at 4pm with Exploring Outsider Art. Athol Fugard's The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek is suggested by Nukain Mabusa, a farm laborer and artist who lived in South Africa. From the late 1960s to the early 1980s, Mabusa painted bright geometrical patterns on the rocks near his small village of Revolver Creek, which have since been recognized as important works of "Outsider Art." Outsider Artists, like the self-taught Mabusa, work outside the formal boundaries of the established art world, creating works for themselves without regard to exhibition, monetary compensation, or formal training. In this World of the Play panel, Signature will explore the men and women who make Outsider Art. Why do these artists create work in solitude? Is their work autobiographical in nature since it is made for the artists themselves? Why is there such an allure around the discovery of "authentic" art? What can Outsider Art teach us about our broader culture? What happens when this art passes from isolation to acceptance? These events are free and open to the public.

About SIGNATURE THEATRE - Signature Theatre exists to honor and celebrate the playwright. Founded in 1991 by James Houghton, Signature makes an extended commitment to a playwright's body of work, and during this journey, the writer is engaged in every aspect of the creative process. By championing in-depth explorations of a playwright's body of work, Signature delivers an intimate and immersive journey into the playwright's singular vision. In 2014 Signature became the first New York City theatre to receive the Regional Theatre Tony Award.

Signature serves its mission through its permanent home at The Pershing Square Signature Center, a three-theatre facility on West 42nd Street designed by Frank Gehry Architects to host Signature's three distinct playwrights' residencies and foster a cultural community. At the Center, opened in January 2012, Signature continues its founding Playwright-in-Residence model as Residency One, a first-of-its-kind, intensive exploration of a single writer's body of work. Residency Five, the only program of its kind, was launched at the Center to support multiple playwrights as they build bodies of work by guaranteeing each writer three productions over a five-year period. The Legacy Program, launched during Signature's 10th Anniversary, invites writers from both residencies back for productions of premiere or earlier plays.

The Pershing Square Signature Center is a major contribution to New York City's cultural landscape and provides a venue for cultural organizations that supports and encourages collaboration among artists throughout the space. In addition to its three intimate theatres, the Center features a studio theatre, rehearsal studio, and a public café, bar and bookstore. Through the Signature Ticket Initiative: A Generation of Access, Signature has also made an unprecedented commitment to making its productions accessible by underwriting the cost of initial run tickets, currently priced at $25, through 2031.

Signature has presented entire seasons of the work of Edward Albee, Lee Blessing, Horton Foote, Maria Irene Fornes, Athol Fugard, John Guare, David Henry Hwang, Bill Irwin, Adrienne Kennedy, Tony Kushner, Romulus Linney, Charles Mee, Arthur Miller, Sam Shepard, Paula Vogel, August Wilson, Lanford Wilson, and a season celebrating the historic Negro Ensemble Company. In addition to the Regional Theatre Tony Award, Signature's productions and its resident writers have been recognized with the Pulitzer Prize, Lucille Lortel Awards, Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards, and AUDELCO Awards, among many other distinctions.

For more information, visit www.signaturetheatre.org.

Pictured: Playwright and director Athol Fugard with the cast of The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek. Photo by Erik Carter.

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