Soho Rep Announces 2010-2011 Theatre Season

Off-Broadway's eleven-time Obie Award-winning Soho Rep - which the New York Times calls the "downtown powerhouse" - will kick off its 2010-2011 season with Gregory S. Moss' (author of PUNKPLAY) new play ORANGE, HAT & GRACE, directed by Soho Rep Artistic Director Sarah Benson (BLASTED, THAT FACE) with previews beginning September 15 prior to an official press opening of September 23; followed by JOMAMA JONES: RADIATE, directed by Kym Moore, with Music Direction by Bobby Halvorson and previews beginning December 28 prior to an official press opening of January 4, 2011; and concluding with the U.S. premiere of Debbie Tucker Green's landmark play BORN BAD directed by Leah C. Gardiner, with previews beginning March 30, 2011 prior to an official press opening of April 7 - all at Soho Rep (46 Walker Street).

"We are thrilled to be producing this season with work by so many distinctive artists that all strongly speak to Soho Rep's mission and offer a sense of exuberance and the possibility of transformation" said Artistic Director Sarah Benson.

September 2010

In a cabin in the woods, aging Orange finds her orderly life upended by a feral suitor and the reappearance of a figure from her past who is coming home for a final visit. Equal parts American gothic and unlikely romance, ORANGE, HAT & GRACE is a funny, fierce and provocative inquiry into our relationship with the natural world. Melding inventive language and startling theatrical imagery, ORANGE, HAT & GRACE marks the New York debut of playwright Gregory S. Moss.

Directed by Soho Rep Artistic Director Sarah Benson, the cast of ORANGE, HAT & GRACE features Matthew Maher (MOLLY's DREAM at Soho Rep, upcoming film IT'S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY), Stephanie Roth Haberle (CHAIR), and Reyna de Courcy (Playwrights Realm's DREAMS OF THE WASHER KING, MONSTROSITY).

ORANGE, HAT & GRACE design team is Rachel Hauck (set design), Matt Frey (lighting design), Matt Tierney (sound design), David Hyman (costume designer), Jon Carter (hair & makeup design), and J. David Brimmer (fight director).

ORANGE, HAT & GRACE was written in Soho Rep's 2008/09 Writer/Director Lab.

Gregory S. Moss is a writer and performer from Newburyport MA. His plays include SIXSIXSIX; SOME OBVIOUS EXAMPLES OF EVERYDAY LIFE, BILLY WITCH, HOUSE OF GOLD and PUNKPLAY. His work has been developed with or produced by The A.R.T., The Atlantic Center for the Arts, The Empty Space, Playwrights Horizons, Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, PlayPenn, Clubbed Thumb, Soho Rep and New York Theatre Workshop. His collaborations with filmmaker Roger Warren Beebe have been screened at film festivals in America and abroad. Gregory is the recipient of a 2006-2007 Lucille Lortel Playwriting Fellowship, a 2008 Millay Colony Residency, a 2009 Eugene O'Neill Center National Playwrights Conference residency and a 2010-2011 Jerome Fellowship. PUNKPLAY was published in Play A Journal of Plays was produced in February 2010 at The Steppenwolf Garage in Chicago. His play HOUSE OF GOLD will be produced this fall by Woolly Mammoth in D.C. also under the direction of Sarah Benson. He holds an MFA in Playwriting from Brown University's Literary Arts Program.

Sarah Benson has been Artistic Director of Soho Rep since 2007. New York credits include: NY premiere Polly Stenham's THAT FACE (Manhattan Theater Club), NY premiere Sarah Kane's BLASTED (Soho Rep) OBIE award, Drama Desk nomination. She has also worked on new plays at The O'Neill, New York Stage & Film and New Dramatists. Ms. Benson moved to New York from London on a Fulbright for Theater Direction. She co-curated the PRELUDE Festival at the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center for two seasons. At Soho Rep she has produced new works by artists including: Young Jean Lee, Dan LeFranc, Nature Theater of Oklahoma and John Jesurun. Upcoming: Gregory Moss' HOUSE OF GOLD (Woolly Mammoth, DC) and Sophocles' AJAX (A.R.T. Boston).

Scheduled September 15 through October 10, performances of ORANGE, HAT & GRACE run Tuesdays - Sundays at 7:30pm at Soho Rep. (46 Walker Street - between Broadway & Church, 2 blocks south of Canal Street).

January 2011

The turn of the New Year brings legendary expatriate performer Jomama Jones back to America, back to New York City, and to the Soho Rep stage for the first time with JOMAMA JONES: RADIATE - a journey marking the highs and lows of a life lived in pursuit of authenticity, love and strength-of-soul. A classic American comeback story, this radiant soul superhero who hit big in the '80s with "Ghetto (In My Mind)" and "Afromatic" returns from darkness as a lone star with singular purpose - to bring her experiences to life through song and narrative. And she does all of this in six-inch heels. Transforming Soho Rep into an ancient/futuristic structure, JOMAMA JONES: RADIATE promotes a magical dislocation from time and space that both challenges and inspires.

Directed by Kym Moore JOMAMA JONES: RADIATE features music direction by Bobby Halvorson and a cast that includes Ms. Jones, along with Helga Davis and Sonja Perryman. The production of JOMAMA JONES: RADIATE at Soho Rep is set to launch Ms. Jones' US come back tour.

JOMAMA JONES: RADIATE is produced in collaboration with New Dramatists' NYC Full Stage Program.

Scheduled December 28 through January 16, JOMAMA JONES: RADIATE will perform Wednesdays - Sundays at Soho Rep at 7:30 p.m. with a special late night performance offered on New Year's Eve.

March/April 2011

Soho Rep concludes its 2010-2011 season with the U.S. premiere of Debbie Tucker Green's much acclaimed, and Laurence Olivier Award winning play BORN BAD, directed by Leah C. Gardiner.

Dawta says it's the truth, but other family members remember differently. At once epic and domestic, Tucker Green's explosive drama follows one family trying to make sense of their past. Told with humor and inventive form, Soho Rep presents the US premiere of this landmark play.

When it debuted at The Hampstead Theatre in London in 2003, The Guardian said of BORN BAD that "the overall effect is of having swallowed a scalding cup of triple espresso coffee in one gulp. The burn stays with you after you have left the theatre," and the Independent said, "Love it or loathe it, Tucker Green's work is already making its mark."

Debbie Tucker Green arrived with a bang in 2003 with DIRTY BUTTERFLY, which she quickly followed up with BORN BAD. Her other plays include: STONING MARY and RANDOM, both produced by the Royal Court.

Leah C. Gardiner has directed FENCES for Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the world premieres of BULRUSHER by Eisa Davis at Urban Stages (Pulitzer finalist), BLUE DOOR by Tanya Barfield at South Coast Rep (Pulitzer finalist), and ORANGE FLOWER WATER by Craig Wright at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival. Other notable New York credits include WIT at Union Square Theater (the installation of the 2nd & 3rd casts), Molly Smith Metzler's TRAINING WISTERIA at the Cherry Lane Theatre; John Augustine's KENT, CT at The Zipper Theater; EARTHQUAKE CHICA by Anne García- Romero as part of the Summer Play Festival Cheri Magid's THE GHOST OF ENOCH CARLTON for the Keen Company's Keen Teens Program; and, Karen Hartman's THE MOTHER OF MODERN CENSORSHIP at the Tiny Mythic Theater for Lincoln Center Director's Lab.

Scheduled March 30 through April 24 BORN BAD will perform Tuesdays thru Sundays at 7:30 p.m. at Soho Rep.

Tickets for all three mainstage productions at Soho Rep. are 99 cents for Sunday performances, $30 for general admission and $40 for premium reserved seating and can be reserved by calling TheaterMania at 212-352-3101 or online at www.sohorep.org.

In addition to the mainstage productions, Soho Rep will also present the 13th season of its popular Writer/Director Lab, which culminates into a free reading series in the Spring. Additionally, the 2010/2011 Dorothy Streslin Playwrighting Fellow is Sylvan Oswald (Jerome Fellow from the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis, a Thurber House Playwriting Fellow, and New Voices fellow from The Ensemble Studio Theater).

Now in its 34th year, Soho Rep's 2010-11 season is the fourth under the leadership of Artistic Director, Sarah Benson, and the third for Executive Director, Tania Camargo. Soho Rep is dedicated to cultivating and producing visionary, uncompromising, and exuberant new plays. They perform to one of the youngest adult audiences in New York City, with over three-quarters of its audience aged 18-40.

Critics continue to herald Soho Rep as the go-to theatre destination for new and original works. New York Magazine states, "this indispensable theater offers more excitement per chair than any space in town," Time Out New York says, "Soho Rep is the best theater in NYC (official)," Variety exclaims "[Soho Rep] has claimed an increasingly vital spot...the venue has suddenly become one to watch for Manhattan theatergoers starved for new work," and the New York Times declares Soho Rep to be "one of the most daring companies."

Dan Le Franc was recently awarded the New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award for the Soho Rep production of his play SIXTY MILES TO SILVER LAKE in 2009. Over the last decade, Soho Rep productions have garnered eleven OBIE Awards -- most recently for Sarah Benson (director) and Louisa Thompson (set designer) for the critically acclaimed New York premiere of Sarah Kane's BLASTED; six Drama Desk nominations, two for BLASTED (Outstanding Director of a Play - Sarah Benson and Outstanding Actor in a Play - Reed Birney) and four for their critically acclaimed production of FRANKENSTEIN, the Oppenheimer Award for EVERYTHING WILL BE DIFFERENT, and two Kesselring Awards for Melissa James Gibson and Mark Schultz. In recent years, Soho Rep has presented plays by established and emerging theatre artists such as Richard Maxwell, Mac Wellman, Dan LeFranc, Nature Theater of Oklahoma, Young Jean Lee and The Flying Machine.

For additional information about Soho Rep., call 212-941-8632 or visit www.sohorep.org

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