The Public Theatre Presents 'The Fever Chart' 4/26

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Mara Manus) will begin previews for THE FEVER CHART: THREE VISIONS OF THE MIDDLE EAST, the fourth play of the inaugural PUBLIC LAB initiative.  Written by Naomi Wallace and directed by Jo Bonney, THE FEVER CHART: THREE VISIONS OF THE MIDDLE EAST tells three distinct stories set in different parts of the Middle East. Tickets are $10 for all performances.
 
THE FEVER CHART: THREE VISIONS OF THE MIDDLE EAST uses muscular and poetic writing to find beauty in the unimaginable, and explores political tensions by grounding them in the human issues of love, life, and death. Internationally acclaimed playwright Naomi Wallace is best known for her deeply political plays, including One Flea Spare (The Public Theater) and The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, and is the recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship.

The cast of THE FEVER CHART: THREE VISIONS OF THE MIDDLE EAST features Natalie Gold (Twelfth Night at Shakespeare in the Park); Lameece Issaq (Stuff Happens at The Public); Omar Metwally (Sixteen Wounded on Broadway); Arian Moayed (Queens Boulevard at Signature); and Waleed F. Zuaiter (Mother Courage and Her Children at Shakespeare in the Park).
 
THE FEVER CHART: THREE VISIONS OF THE MIDDLE EAST features scenic design by Rachel Hauck; costume design by Ilona Somogyi; lighting design by Lap Chi Chu; and sound design by Christian Fredrickson.
 
Conceived and presented in association with LAByrinth Theater Company, PUBLIC LAB is designed to respond to new work immediately, and present fresh, raw and relevant plays that embrace the Public's history as a theater receptive to the big issues, the public issues of our time.  In so doing, this innovative program creates a new model for the ways in which The Public engages with our artists and audience.  This important initiative will give writers the essential opportunity to realize their work in collaboration with director, designers and actors through production and most importantly, to see their work in front of an audience.  The plays will be minimally designed and have short rehearsal periods. 
 
NAOMI WALLACE (Playwright)'s work has been produced extensively in both the United States and England, where she now resides. Her plays include The War Boys (nominated for Best First Play by the Edinburgh Fringe), the Gulf War drama In the Heart of America (which won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize), One Flea Spare (produced at The Public in 1998, receiving an OBIE for Best Play), The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, Slaughter City, The Girl Who Fell Through A Hole In Her Jumper, and an adaptation of William Wharton's Birdy, In addition to her playwriting career, Wallace wrote the film Lawn Dogs and has had poetry published on both sides of the Atlantic, including the critically acclaimed book of poems To Dance a Stony Field. She is the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship and a Kesserling Prize.
 
Jo Bonney (Director)'s recent New York theater credits include Alan Ball's All That I Will Ever Be (New York Theater Workshop), Eric Bogosian's subUrbia (Second Stage), Neil LaBute's Some Girl(s) (MCC), Charles Fuller's A Soldier's Play (Second Stage) and The Seven (New York Theater Workshop), which she conceived and directed. At The Public, she has directed Jose Rivera's References To Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, Diana Son's Stop Kiss, Anna Deveare Smith's House Arrest, and Danny Hoch's Some People. Also in New York, she won a Lucille Lortel award for the Signature Theatre Company's revival of Fifth of July and has directed On the Mountain for Playwrights Horizons; Fat Pig for MCC; Living Out for Second Stage; Universes' Slanguage for New York Theater Workshop; The Fastest Clock in the Universe, The Flatted Fifth, and Good Thing for The New Group; Look Back In Anger for Classic Stage; and Stray Cats for Naked Angels. Other noteworthy credits include Top Girls at Williamstown; Anna in the Tropics at Arena Stage; Adoration of the Old Woman at La Jolla Playhouse; and Humpty Dumpty at the McCarter. She received an OBIE Award for Sustained Excellence and is the editor of Extreme Exposure: An Anthology of Solo Performance Texts from the Twentieth Century.
 
THE PUBLIC THEATER (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Mara Manus) was founded by Joseph Papp in 1954 as the Shakespeare Workshop and is now one of the nation's preeminent cultural institutions, producing new plays, musicals, productions of Shakespeare, and other classics at its headquarters on Lafayette Street and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.  The Public's mandate to create a theater for all New Yorkers continues to this day on stage and through its extensive outreach and education programs. Each year, over 250,000 people attend Public Theater-related productions and events at six downtown stages, including Joe's Pub, and Shakespeare in the Park. The Public has won 40 Tony Awards, 141 Obies, 39 Drama Desk Awards, 23 Lucille Lortel Awards and 4 Pulitzer Prizes.

THE FEVER CHART will run through May 11th 2008. For more information please visit www.publictheatre.org