TACT Announces LOVERS Cast: Nora Chester, James Riordan and More

TACT/The Actors Company Theatre (Scott Alan Evans, Cynthia Harris and Jenn Thompson, Co-Artistic Directors), the critically-acclaimed and Drama Desk nominated Off-Broadway company "dedicated to presenting neglected or rarely produced plays of literary merit," announces the cast and creative team for Lovers by Brian Friel, the first production of the company's 20th Anniversary Season. Directed by TACT Company Member Drew Barr, performances begin at Theatre Row's Beckett Theatre (410 West 42nd Street - between 9th & 10th Avenues) on Tuesday, September 18th, 2012. Opening night is Thursday, September 27th at 7:30pm. Performances will continue through Saturday, October 20th.

Set in contemporary Ireland, Lovers tells the tales of two very different couples, both at the beginning of their romantic journeys together, yet each from very different perspectives and with very different outcomes. This beautiful and intimate work is filled with Friel's characteristic poetic lilt and devilish humor. Hailed as the "Irish Chekhov," Friel is considered to be one of the greatest living English language playwrights.

The cast will include TACT company members Nora Chester (TACT: The Eccentricities of a Nightingale, The Triangle Factory Fire Project), Cynthia Darlow (Broadway: Billy Elliott, TACT: The Runner Stumbles), and Justine Salata (NYSF: As You Like It, TACT: The Admiral Crichton), as well as Guest Artists Kati Brazda (Broadway: A Moon for the Misbegotten, Off Broadway: Our Town), James Riordan (Broadway: Jerusalem, The Elephant Man), and Cameron Scoggins (Off Broadway: The Big Meal).

The creative team is comprised of Brett J. Banakis (sets), Kim Krumm Sorenson (costumes), TACT company member Mary Louise Geiger (lights), Daniel Kluger (sound & original music), and Lauren Madden (properties). TACT company member Michael Friedlander is Production Stage Manager and Alex Mark is Assistant Stage Manager.

Written in 1968 and first presented in the U.S. at Lincoln Center in a production that featured Art Carney, Lovers was an enormous success (Tony Nomination for "Best Play"), extending its run at the Beaumont and moving on to play the Music Box Theatre on Broadway. Friel went on to write more than 30 plays, including Dancing at Lughnasa and Translations.

Lovers will play the following performance schedule: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 & 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. There will be a special matinee performance on Wednesday, October 17th at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $20 - $58.00 and are available by visiting www.telecharge.com or calling (212) 239-6200. Tickets are also available at the Theatre Row box office (410 West 42nd Street (between 9th & 10th Avenues) between 12:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. daily.

To learn about the benefits of TACT membership, please visit www.tactnyc.org or call (212) 645-8228.

TACT/The Actors Company Theatre (Scott Alan Evans, Cynthia Harris, & Jenn Thompson, Co-Artistic Directors) is dedicated to presenting neglected or rarely produced plays of literary merit, with a focus on creating theatre from its essence: the text and the actor's ability to bring it to life.

TACT's celebrated company of actors was drawn together in 1992 by a love of the literature of the theatre. Since that time, they have grown to become a true ensemble: a group that has developed a common vocabulary and a technique based on their specific artistic vision and collective body of work. TACT company members, whose cumulative experience includes scores of significant roles on and off Broadway, in the country's finest regional theatres and in many films and television shows, have received Emmy, Obie, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards, in addition to several Tony nominations.

After presenting thirteen seasons of "in-concert" performances, the company took a leap with its 2006-07 season by presenting fully staged productions of David Storey's Home and The Sea by Edward Bond at The Beckett Theatre on Theatre Row. TACT became a resident company on Theatre Row with its 2007-08 season when they presented critically-acclaimed productions of The Runner Stumbles by Milan Stitt and The Eccentricities of a Nightingale, by Tennessee Williams, which The New York Times included in its "Top 10 Theatre Picks for 2008." The company's productions of Alan Ayckbourn's Bedroom Farce, Arthur Miller's Incident at Vichy, Sidney Howard's The Late Christopher Bean, John Cecil Holm and George Abbott's Three Men on a Horse and last season's Drama Desk nominated production of Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers became instant hits and enjoyed extended runs.