THE APIARY World Premiere Starring Taylor Schilling & More Begins Previews

Kate Douglas' The Apiary, directed by Kate Whoriskey begins previews tonight at Second Stage's Tony Kiser Theater.

The play, which is the centerpiece production of Second Stage's inaugural NEXT STAGE, features Obie Award-winner April Matthis (The Piano Lesson, Toni Stone), Lucille Lortel Award nominee Carmen M. Herlihy (Second Stage's Bachelorette), and Emmy, SAG, and Golden Globe award nominee Taylor Schilling (Orange is the New Black, CSC's A Month in the Country) and Nimene Wureh, making her New York theatre and off-Broadway debut. The production officially opens on February 13 at Second Stage's Tony Kiser Theater, 305 West 43rd street.

22 years in the future, two lab assistants hatch a plan that could change the world. All they need are a few volunteers. A raucous and provocative world premiere by Kate Douglas about sacrifice, ambition, and honeybees, directed by Kate Whoriskey (Clyde's).

THE APIARY and the NEXT STAGE FESTIVAL are made possible in part by the New American Voices Fund, which was established in 2016 by a lead gift from David Stone.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Carmen M. Herlihy

returns to Second Stage where she appeared in the acclaimed production of Leslye Headland's Bachelorette. Other credits include Kingdom Come (Roundabout), crooked (Women's Project; Lucille Lortel Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress), The Piano Teacher (Vineyard Theatre), The Thugs (Soho Rep), columbinus (NYTW, Drama League Nomination for Ensemble), Top Girls (Huntington Theatre), Recent Alien Abductions (Humana Festival). TV includes Servant, Blue Bloods, New Amsterdam, Awkwafina is Nora From Queens, Madam Secretary. Film:  The Trouble with Cali, The Switch, The Rebound, Burn After Reading, Morning Glory, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, My First Kiss and The People Involved.

April Matthis

is an Obie Award-winning actor. Broadway: The Piano Lesson. Selected Off-Broadway: Primary Trust (Roundabout); Help (The Shed); Toni Stone (Roundabout); Fairview, Lear (Soho Rep); The Sound & the Fury (ERlevator Repair Service); Fondly, Collette Richland (NYTW); Measure for Measure (The Public); Everyone's Fine with Virginia Woolf (Abrons Art Center); GATZ (Perth Festival).TV: The Blacklist, New Amsterdam (NBC); Evil, The Good Fight (Paramount Plus); Life & Beth (Hulu). Film: Black Card (HBO, Showtime), Fugitive Dreams (FantasiaFest, Cinequest), Ramona at Midlife (Woodstock Film Festival).

Taylor Schilling

is an Emmy, Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe nominated actress, who most recently starred alongside Connie Britton in Apple TV+'s series Dear Edward, based on the novel by Ann Napolitano and executive produced by Jason Katims. Schilling appeared as Erica Gauthier in Hulu's hit miniseries Pam & Tommy, which was released on February 2, 2022. Previous television credits include Netflix acclaimed series, Orange is the New Black and Hulu's anthology series Monsterland. Film credits include: Family (premiered at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival), The Public (premiered at the 2018 Toronto Film Festival), The Prodigy, Take Me, Netflix's The Titan, The Overnight (which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival and SXSW Film Festival) and The Lucky One. On stage, Schilling starred in the Classic Stage Company production of A Month in the Country, opposite Peter Dinklage. Schilling graduated from Fordham University with a Bachelor of Arts in Acting and subsequently attended New York University's Graduate Acting Program.

Nimene Wureh

is making her New York theatre and off-Broadway debut. An NYU Tisch Drama graduate, Ms. Wureh is an actress, singer-songwriter, dancer-choreographer who has appeared on That Damn Michael Che on MAX and Inside Amy Schumer on Paramount+. www.nimene.com @nimenesierrawureh 

Kate Douglas

is a writer, composer, performer, and horticulturist. Recent work includes The Apiary (Judith Royer Award); The Ninth Hour at The Met Cloisters (starring opposite her co-writer Shayfer James); Against Women & Music! with Grace McLean (The Civilians); and The Lucky Few (starring opposite her co-writer Todd Almond). She has been awarded residencies at SPACE on Ryder Farm, Swale House on Governors Island, New York Stage & Film, Rhinebeck Musicals, Millay Arts, Goodspeed Musicals, and the New Musicals Lab at Ferguson Center, among others. Alum of the Dramatists Guild Fellows Program, Colt Coeur, The Civilian R&D Group, GTG Speakers Corner, and The Orchard Project Greenhouse. Previous performance credits include Punchdrunk's Sleep No More (where she also held the title of Associate Artist), Fernando Rubio's Everything by my side, Third Rail's The Grand Paradise, and Kansas City Choir Boy starring Todd Almond and Courtney Love. Upcoming: featured performer in Liz Phair's 30th Anniversary Tour of her seminal album Exile in Guyville. BFA: New York University. Certificate in Sustainable Garden Design, New York Botanical Garden. www.katedouglasprojects.com

Kate Whoriskey

returns to Second Stage Theater, where she most recently directed Lynn Nottage's Tony-nominated play, Clyde's. Broadway credits include Sweat at Studio 54 and The Miracle Worker at Circle in the Square. Ms. Whoriskey's additional Second Stage productions include Cardinal and How I Learned to Drive. Other Off Broadway:  All the Natalie Portmans (MTC), Songs for a New World (Encores Off Center), Ruined (MTC), Her Requiem (Lincoln Center), Aubergine, Fabulation and Inked Baby (Playwrights Horizons), The Piano Teacher (Vineyard), among others. Regional credits include productions at the Guthrie, the Goodman, the Geffen, South Coast Rep, Sundance Theatre Lab, Shakespeare Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, the Huntington, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Baltimore Center Stage, Arena among others.  Her opera direction has been seen at the Mannes Opera: Britten's The Turn of the Screw, Chatelet in Paris and Teatro Municipal in Brazil.