Theater J Presents THE CHRISTIANS

One of the most talked about new plays in American theater makes its DC premiere this Fall. Theater J will present Lucas Hnath's critically acclaimed The Christians, November 16 - December 11.

Since its development and workshop at The Kennedy Center, and debut at the Humana Festival of New American Plays at The Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Christians has been produced at numerous theaters, including Playwrights Horizons in New York, where it won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play. Set in a large, contemporary, Christian church, The Christians is performed with lively theatricality that emulates a Sunday service. Hailed by The New York Times as a "terrific play about the mystery of faith...one of the freshest playwright voices to emerge in the past five years," The Christians is a big play about faith in America. This provocative drama chronicles the aftermath of a pastor's radical sermon in which he questions the church's doctrine unilaterally changing the church's current stance on a key article of faith. This shakes the community and offers an unflinching look at faith of any denomination.

"Nothing could be more fitting than presenting The Christians at Theater J, the nation's premier Jewish Theater company," said Theater J Artistic Director Adam Immerwahr. "The Christians is an urgent and searing play about religion's awesome power to unite us, or divide us. It's a play about community, about faith, about America. It's one of the most vital plays written in the last five years, and you definitely won't want to miss its DC premiere. Theater J will be partnering with some of the top choirs in the DC metropolitan region to create a stunning production of this astonishingly timely new play."

Backed by a live choir, The Christians is both an epic and unexpectedly intimate drama. Each night of the play, Theater J will feature a local choir to bring a diverse and unique voice to the stage as they perform four classic songs. The choirs performing include All Souls Church Unitarian Jubilee Singers, National Broadway Chorus, DMV Youth Gospel Choir, Jubilee Majestic Concert Choir, Michigan Park Christian Church Mass Choir, Bowie State Gospel Choir, and a dozen others. This initiative will bridge the interfaith community in the DC area as Theater J brings diversity to the stage. A full calendar of featured choirs and their performance dates will be released in October.

Lucas Hnath's plays include Hillary and Clinton, Red Speedo, The Christians, A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney, Isaac's Eye, and Death Tax. His work has been produced at Actors Theatre of Louisville/Humana Festival of New Plays, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Gate Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Royal Court Theatre, Soho Rep, Traverse Theatre, and Victory Gardens. He has been a resident playwright at New Dramatists since 2011. He is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre and a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect. He has received the Kesselring Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Whiting Award, two Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award Citations, an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best New Play, and an Obie.

The Christians will be directed by Gregg Henry, who directed Sons of the Prophet by Stephen Karam during the 2015-2016 season at Theater J. Henry has curated the Kennedy Center Page-to-Stage New Play Festival for 11 years and produces the annual MFA Playwrights' Workshop at the Kennedy Center in association with National New Play Network (NNPN). Gregg has acted, directed, and/or staged the fights with the Colorado, Michigan, Oklahoma and Wisconsin Shakespeare Festivals. He is artistic director of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, supervising the organization's programs and forging educational partnerships with theatres and other organizations for professional development residencies.

The cast of The Christians features Caroline Clay (A Midsummer Night's Dream at Folger Theater, The Blood Quilt at Arena Stage, and Doubt and The Royal Family on Broadway), Annie Grier (Tribes and Pygmalion at Everyman, and A Christmas Carol at The Public Theatre), Michael Russotto (The Sisters Rosensweig and Falling Out of Time at Theater J), Justin Weaks (Lobby Hero at 1st Stage and Darius & Twig at The Kennedy Center), and Michael Willis (Sons of the Prophet and Our Suburb at Theater J).

The artistic team of The Christians includes, set and projection designer Jonathan Dahm Robertson, lighting designer Kyle Grant, costume designer Danielle Preston, Sound Designer Patrick Calhoun, properties designerKevin Laughon, and music consultant Markus Williams.

The Christians runs November 16 through December 11, 2016 at Theater J in the Edlavitch DCJCC's Aaron & Cecile Goldman Theater. Tickets are available starting at $37 at theaterj.org or (202) 777-3210.

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