Vineyard Theatre Announces 40th Anniversary Season Featuring Three World Premieres

Vineyard Theatre has announced the company's upcoming 40th Anniversary Season which will include three world-premiere productions. Kicking off the season will be David Cale's Sandra, which reunites Cale and director Leigh Silverman following the acclaimed Harry Clarke, which premiered at the Vineyard in 2017. This thriller will star Marjan Neshat (Selling Kabul and English) and have an original composition by Matthew Dean Marsh. Tori Sampson (If Pretty Hurts, Ugly Must Be A Muhfucka), will debut her latest work, This Land Was Made, which will close the season and be directed by Taylor Reynolds (Man Cave). The third production, a new musical, will play in the spring of 2023 and will be announced in the near future.

Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern said: "We are excited to celebrate 40 years of Vineyard Theatre with three incredible world-premiere productions. First, David Cale and Leigh Silverman return to the Vineyard following their acclaimed collaboration on Harry Clarke (Obie and Lortel Awards for Best Solo Show) with the dazzling one-woman thriller Sandra. We are thrilled that the brilliant Marjan Neshat, whose work we have long-admired, will make her Vineyard debut as Sandra. In the spring, Tori Sampson's riveting new play This Land Was Made follows an unforgettable group of characters grappling with the nature of revolution in Oakland in 1967; set in the recent past, it speaks powerfully to our present moment. We began working with Tori on the play before the shutdown and it has only grown in resonance; we can't wait to share it with audiences under the direction of Taylor Reynolds. In late winter, we'll premiere an exciting new musical -- details to come very soon! Each of these new works, by gifted and daring storytellers, examines the power of stories in personal and cultural transformation, and each exemplifies the Vineyard's mission to push the boundaries of what theatre can be and do. We'll be announcing a series of special 40th anniversary events throughout the season too, so stay tuned!"

The Vineyard's current Artists-in-Residence include Ryan J. Haddad, Michael R. Jackson, Lightning Rod Special, Sarah Gancher and Jared Mezzocchi, Tyler Thomas and Reggie D. White. The recipients of The Vineyard's 2022-2023 Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, Colman Domingo Award, Susan Stroman Directing Award residencies will be announced later in the season.

New 40th Anniversary Season Passes:
Become a member with a 40th Anniversary Season Pass to ensure great access to all Vineyard Theatre productions for a fraction of the full ticket price. Purchase a pass and use your tickets whenever you choose. Season Passes are now on sale for The Vineyard's 2022-2023 season. To purchase and additional information regarding packages please visit WEBSITE HERE or by calling the box office at 212-353-0303

Vineyard Theatre 2022-23 Season

Sandra

World Premiere
By David Cale
Directed by Leigh Silverman
Original compositions by Matthew Dean Marsh
Starring Marjan Neshat
Dates November 3 - December 11
Opening Night - November 20

In this new one-woman thriller from David Cale (Harry Clarke, 2018 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show), Sandra seeks to get to the bottom of the mysterious disappearance of her closest friend, a young pianist and composer, who went on a trip to Mexico and never returned. Her search for clues leads her into both a highly charged love affair, and increasingly dangerous territory. Featuring an original piano score by Matthew Dean Marsh (We're Only Alive For A Short Amount Of Time), direction by Obie Award-winning director Leigh Silverman (Harry Clarke), and starring Marjan Neshat (Selling Kabul and English), Sandra asks how far would you go for love?

To Be Announced

World Premiere Musical
Spring 2023

This Land Was Made

World Premiere
by Tori Sampson
Directed by Taylor Reynolds
Dates Spring 2023

Liberation. Peace. Love. Self-Defense. Oakland in 1967 is a powder keg of social activism ready to boil over into radical action. For the patrons of Miss Trish's bar, it's all just talking points - until the explosive and seductive force of the revolution walks through the door. History and imagination collide with vibrant humor and echo into our present moment in this stirring new play from Tori Sampson (NYT Critic's Pick If Pretty Hurts, Ugly Must Be A Muhfucka) and directed by LPTW Lucille Lortel Award winner Taylor Reynolds (Man Cave, Tambo and Bones).

About Vineyard Theatre

Vineyard Theatre is an Off-Broadway theatre company dedicated to nurturing the voices of daring artists and developing and producing work that pushes the boundaries of what theatre can be and do. One of the country's preeminent centers for the creation of new plays and musicals, our work seeks to challenge and inspire all of us to see ourselves and our world from different perspectives.

The Vineyard's most recent season included thee world-premiere of Charly Evon Simpson's sandblasted directed by Summer L. Williams and the world-premiere of The Commissary's Lessons in Survival: 1971, a NYT Critics Pick hailed as "ELECTRIC THEATRE". Vineyard's 2021-2022 season also saw the Broadway transfers of three of its productions: Tina Satter's Is This A Room, named "Best Theater of 2019 and 2021" by The New York Times, Time Out and New York Magazine and winner of the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience; Lucas Hnath's Dana H., chosen as The New York Times and Time Out "Best Theatre of 2020 and 2021" and winner of the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show, and the 2022 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for Deirdre O'Connell; and Paula Vogel's How I Learned to Drive, reuniting original Vineyard cast members Mary-Louise Parker, David Morse and Johanna Day with director Mark Brokaw. Finally, the season included commissioned new works from Ngozi Anyanwu, Kirsten Childs, Jared Mezzocchi, Polly Pen and Madeline Sayet.

Notable Vineyard Theatre premieres include Ngozi Anyanwu's Good Grief; Jeremy O. Harris' "Daddy"; Mara Nelson-Greenberg's Do You Feel Anger?; David Cale's Harry Clarke (2018 Drama Desk, Obie, Lucille Lortel Awards); Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman's Indecent (two 2017 Tony Awards); two Pulitzer Prize-winning plays, Paula Vogel's How I Learned To Drive and Edward Albee's Three Tall Women; Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Gloria; Nicky Silver's The Lyons; Marx, Lopez and Whitty's Avenue Q (Tony Award, Best Musical); Kander, Ebb, and Thompson's The Scottsboro Boys; Bell and Bowen's [title of show]; Polly Pen's Goblin Market; Tarell Alvin McCraney's Wig Out!; Jenny Schwartz' God's Ear; Will Eno's Middletown; Becky Mode's Fully Committed; Colman Domingo's Dot, and many more.

The Vineyard's Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, Susan Stroman Directing Award, and Colman Domingo Award provide residencies to early-career artists. The Roth-Vogel New Play Commission is awarded annually to a mid- to late-career playwright to create and develop a new play with The Vineyard. Works developed and premiered at our home in Union Square have gone on to be seen around the world and The Vineyard is proud to be the recipient of special Drama Desk, Obie and Lucille Lortel Awards for artistic excellence.

Vineyard Theatre's leadership includes Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern and Managing Director Suzanne Appel.

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Sandra

David Cale (Playwright) returns to the Vineyard Theatre following his solo play Harry Clarke, starring Billy Crudup, and directed by Leigh Silverman, which transferred to the Minetta Lane Theatre in a run produced and recorded by Audible (2018 Lucille Lortel Award). Cale's works as both writer and performer include The History of Kisses, Palomino, A Likely Story, Lillian (Obie Award), Deep in a Dream of You (Bessie Award), Smooch Music and The Redthroats (Bessie Award). He wrote the book, lyrics, co-composed the music and starred in the musical Floyd and Clea Under the Western Sky (Outer Critics Circle Award nomination). His most recent work is his solo musical memoir We're Only Alive for A Short Amount of Time, for which he wrote the book, lyrics and co-composed the music with his musical collaborator Matthew Dean Marsh. For We're Only Alive for A Short Amount of Time, Cale and Marsh received a 2019 Jeff Award and a 2020 Lucille Lortel Award nomination, and Cale was the recipient of a 2020 Drama Desk Award nomination, a 2020 Outer Critics Circle Award and a 2020 Obie Award.

Matthew Dean Marsh (Composer) has collaborated with David Cale over the past four years, their anthology of songs growing extensively during this time. Most notably, We're Only Alive for A Short Amount of Time, the autobiographical one-man musical with Cale as the starring role, featured music written by the duo and arranged by Marsh. For We're Only Alive for A Short Amount of Time, Cale and Marsh received the 2019 Jeff Award for New Musical and a 2020 Lucille Lortel Award nomination. Matthew music directed Clubbed Thumb's revival of Tumacho, directed by Leigh Silverman, in early 2020. His compositions have sounded at Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center, Radio City Music Hall, Lincoln Center, Tribeca Film Festival, The Public Theater, MassMOCA and The Goodman Theater in Chicago.

Leigh Silverman (Director) Broadway: Grand Horizons (2ST; Williamstown Theater Festival); The Lifespan of a Fact (Studio 54); Violet (Roundabout; Tony Award nomination); Chinglish (Goodman Theatre; Longacre Theatre); Well (Public Theater; ACT; Longacre Theatre). Recent Off-Broadway: Soft Power (Public Theater; Ahmanson Theater/ Curran Theater; Drama Desk nomination); Tumacho (Clubbed Thumb); Hurricane Diane (New York Theatre Workshop; Two River Theater); Harry Clarke (Vineyard Theatre/Audible, Minetta Lane; Lortel nomination); Wild Goose Dreams (Public Theater; La Jolla Playhouse); Sweet Charity (New Group); On The Exhale (Roundabout); All The Ways To Say I Love You (MCC); The Way We Get By (2ST); The Outer Space (Public Theater); Bright Half Life (WP); No Place To Go (Public Theater); American Hero (WTF; 2ST); Kung Fu (Signature Theatre); The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence (Playwrights Horizons). Encores: Violet; The Wild Party; Really Rosie. 2011 Obie Award and 2019 Obie for Sustained Excellence.

Marjan Neshat (Sandra) most recently starred as 'Nazanin' in Sanaz Toossi's new play Wish You Were Here at Playwrights Horizons. She also led the cast of Ms. Toossi's award-winning play English at the Atlantic Theater, which was nominated for the 2022 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Ensemble and winner of Best Play. Other stage credits include the critically acclaimed play Selling Kabul by Sylvia Khoury at Playwrights Horizons, the controversial Shakespeare in the Park production of Julius Caesar (NYSF), and The Seagull (with Alan Cumming and Dianne Wiest). Marjan's feature film work includes leading roles in the multi-award winning film Rockaway as well as in the indie feature Almost in Love and Cry Funny Happy. She has played supporting roles in many films, including Robocop, Sex and the City 2, Alfie, and the upcoming Love-40. Marjan's TV credits include New Amsterdam, For Life, Bull, Elementary, Quantico, Law & Order: SVU, and Fringe among others. She is a recipient of the Sam Norkin Drama Desk award for her portrayals in Selling Kabul and English in the same season.

This Land Was Made

Tori Sampson (Playwright) A native of Boston, Tori's plays include If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must be a Muhfucka (Playwrights Horizons, 2019) and Cadillac Crew (Yale Repertory Theater, 2019). She also wrote for Season 2 of Hunters on Amazon. Her plays have been developed at Great Plains Theatre Conference, Berkeley Repertory Theatre's The Ground Floor residency program, Victory Garden's IGNITION Festival of New Plays, Playwrights Foundation, and Ubuntu Festival. Tori is a 2017-18 Playwright's Center Jerome Fellow and a 2018-19 McKnight Fellow. Two of her plays appeared on the 2017 Kilroys List. Her awards and honors include the 2016 Relentless Award, Honorable Mention; the 2016 Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting from The Kennedy Center; the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award, Second Place; the Alliance Theater's 2017 Kendeda Prize, Finalist; the 2018 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Finalist; the 2018 National Theater Conferences, Paul Green Award. Tori is currently working on commissions from Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre and Atlantic Theater Company. She holds a BS in sociology from Ball State University and an MFA in playwriting from Yale School of Drama.

Taylor Reynolds (Director) is a New York-based director from Chicago and one of the Producing Artistic Leaders of OBIE-winning The Movement Theatre Company. Selected directing credits include: Tambo & Bones (Playwrights Horizons/CTG), Man Cave (Page 73), The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, New York Times Critic's Pick), Richard & Jane & Dick & Sally (Baltimore Center Stage/Playwrights Realm), Tough (AADA), Plano (Clubbed Thumb, Drama Desk nomination for Best Director), Songs About Trains (Radical Evolution), and Think Before You Holla (creator/deviser). Taylor has worked as a director, assistant, and collaborator with companies including Keen Company, Signature Theatre Company, MCC, South Coast Rep, and The 24 Hour Plays. Taylor is the 2021 LPTW Lucille Lortel Award recipient, a New Georges Affiliated Artist, 2017-2018 Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellow, and Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab alum. Member of SDC.

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