FREEZE FRAME: Inside the First Day Rehearsal for PETER PAN ON HER 70th BIRTHDAY

Rehearsals are underway for the Playwrights Horizons New York premiere production of For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, a new play by two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award nominee Sarah Ruhl (Stage Kiss, Dead Man's Cell Phone at Playwrights; In the Next Room, or the vibrator play; The Clean House).

Directed by Obie Award winner Les Waters (The Christians, Doris to Darlene at Playwrights; Ms. Ruhl's In the Next Room, or the vibrator play; 10 Out of 12; Big Love; Artistic Director, Actors Theatre of Louisville), the play will be the opening production of the theater company's 2017/2018 Season. On that same date, tickets will go on sale to the general public.

As previously announced, the cast of For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday will feature Tony Award nominee and three-time Obie Award winner Kathleen Chalfant in the title role (Ms. Ruhl's Dead Man's Cell Phone at Playwrights, Wit, Angels in America, Ms. Ruhl's Dear Elizabeth), David Chandler (Doris to Darlene, Black Sea Follies at Playwrights; Lost in Yonkers; Death of a Salesman), Ron Crawford (The Grapes of Wrath, Outside Mulligan), two-time Obie Award winner Lisa Emery (Marjorie Prime, Marvin's Room at Playwrights; Casa Valentina; Iron; Curtains; Six Degrees of Separation), Tony Award nominee Daniel Jenkins (Ms. Ruhl's Stage Kiss at Playwrights, Big, Big River, Oslo) and Keith Reddin (Baby with the Bathwater at Playwrights as Actor; Highest Standard of Living, Life and Limb at Playwrights as Author; on Broadway in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike), as well as the canine talents of Macy.

The production will begin previews Friday, August 18 with an Opening Night set for Wednesday, September 13 at 7:30 PM at the company's Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street). The limited engagement is currently scheduled to play through Sunday, October 1.

Playing Peter Pan at her hometown children's theater is one of Ann's (Ms. Chalfant) fondest, most formative memories. Now, fifty years later, Neverland calls again, casting her and her siblings back to this faraway dreamscape where the refusal to grow up confronts the inevitability of growing old. In her highly anticipated return to Playwrights, Sarah Ruhl conjures a tender, yearning tale that flies in the face of time, in the search for a second youth.

The production will feature scenic design by Tony Award winner David Zinn, costume design by Kristopher Castle, lighting design by Matt Frey, sound design by Charles Coes and Obie Award winner Bray Poor. Animals by Tony Award-winning William Berloni Theatrical Animals and Flying Effects by ZFX, Inc. Production Stage Manager is Amanda Spooner.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride

Sarah Ruhl and Les Waters

Lisa Emery, Sarah Ruhl, Kathleen Chalfant, and Les Waters

Daniel Jenkins, David Chandler, Ron Crawford, Keith Reddin, Lisa Emery, and Kathleen Chalfant