TICKETS FOR NEW YORK PREMIERE OF THE LIQUID PLAIN
 |
| Kristolyn Lloyd |
NEW YORK BROADWAY-- Signature Theatre (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) is pleased to announce casting is confirmed and tickets are now on sale for the New York Premiere of The Liquid Plain by Naomi Wallace, directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah. All tickets for the initial run of the production are $25 as part of the Signature Ticket Initiative: A Generation of Access. The production runs February 17 through March 29, 2015 with a March 8 opening night in The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues).
The cast includes Ito Aghayere (The Tempest at Classic Stage) as Dembi, LisaGay Hamilton (ABC’s “The Practice”) as Bristol, Robert Hogan (ABC’s One Life to Live) as James De Wolfe, Michael Izquierdo (The Wolf of Wall Street) as Cranston, Kristolyn Lloyd (Heathers: The Musical) as Adjua, Karl Miller (Completeness at Playwrights Horizons) as Balthazar/William Blake, Tuck Milligan (The First Breeze of Summer at Signature) as Gifford, Tara A. Nicolas (“The Blacklist”) as Guinea Worm, Johnny Ramey (Julius by Design at the Access Theater) as Liverpool Joe, Lance Roberts (This Is Where I Leave You) as Nesbitt.
On the docks of late 18th century Rhode Island, two runaway slaves, Adjua and Dembi, plan a desperate and daring run to freedom. When a chance encounter triggers an unexpected collision of worlds, painful truths are uncovered and the brutality of past crimes spills into the next generation. Winner of the 2012 Horton Foote Prize for Promising New American Play, The Liquid Plain brings to life a group of people whose stories have been erased from history.
The design team includes Riccardo Hernandez (Scenic Design), Paul Tazewell (Costume Design), Thom Weaver (Lighting Design), Shane Rettig (Sound Design), Alex Koch (Projection Design), UnkleDave’s Fight-House (Fight Direction). Cole Bonenberger is the Production Stage Manager. Casting by Telsey + Company, William Cantler, CSA.
Supplemental programming has been set for The Liquid Plain. There will be post-show talkbacks on February 24, March 12, 19 and 24. Talkbacks brought to you by American Express. There will be a pre-show Page to Stage discussion with playwright Naomi Wallace and director Kwame Kwei-Armah on Tuesday, March 3 at 6pm. There will also be a Backstage Pass event with a member of the creative team on Tuesday, March 10 at 6pm. Patrons are also welcome to join the Book Club and delve into the context of The Liquid Plain by discussing Marcus Rediker’s book The Slave Ship: A Human History with Signature’s literary staff on Thursday, March 26 at 7:30pm. All events are free and open to the public.
To purchase tickets for all Signature productions, call Ticket Services at 212-244-7529 (Tues. – Sun., 11am – 6pm) or visit signaturetheatre.org.
Tickets to the initial runs of all Signature productions at The Pershing Square Signature Center are $25, part of the groundbreaking Signature Ticket Initiative: A Generation of Access, a program that guarantees affordable and accessible tickets to every Signature production through 2031. Serving as a model for theatres and performing arts organizations across the country, the Initiative was founded in 2005 and is made possible by lead partner The Pershing Square Foundation. Additional support provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation, Margot Adams and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
2014-15 SEASON OVERVIEW
RESIDENCY ONE
THE WAYSIDE MOTOR INN
By A. R. Gurney
Directed by Lila Neugebauer
Final Performance Played on October 5, 2014
WHAT I DID LAST SUMMER
By A. R. Gurney
Directed by Jim Simpson
May – June 2015
The Irene Diamond Stage
With her husband overseas near the end of World War II, Grace fights to save the splintering bonds of her family by taking her teenage son and daughter to spend the summer on Lake Erie. When her son takes up with the town outcast, the entire family must confront the expectations of a society that holds conformity in the highest regard. Grace finds that her attempt to restore normalcy may have only fractured their relationships further in the second show of A. R. Gurney’s Signature Residency.
AND I AND SILENCE **U.S. PREMIERE**
By Naomi Wallace
Directed by Caitlin McLeod
Final performance played on September 14, 2014
THE LIQUID PLAIN **NEW YORK PREMIERE**
By Naomi Wallace
Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah
February 17 – March 29, 2015
The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre
On the docks of late 18th century Rhode Island, two runaway slaves, Adjua and Dembi, plan a desperate and daring run to freedom. When a chance encounter triggers an unexpected collision of worlds, painful truths are uncovered and the brutality of past crimes spills into the next generation. Winner of the 2012 Horton Foote Prize for Promising New American Play, The Liquid Plain brings to life a group of people whose stories have been erased from history.
The Liquid Plain is made possible, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Both A.R. Gurney and Naomi Wallace’s residencies will conclude with premiere productions during Signature’s 2015-16 Season.
LAGACY PROGRAM
A PARTICLE OF DREAD (OEDIPUS VARIATIONS) **U.S. PREMIERE**
By Sam Shepard
Directed by Nancy Meckler
Final performance played on January 4, 2015
BIG LOVE
By Charles Mee
Directed by Tina Landau
February 3 – March 15, 2015
The Irene Diamond Stage
Fifty brides flee their fifty grooms and seek refuge in an Italian villa in this modern re-making of one of the world's oldest plays, The Danaids by Aeschylus. Mayhem ensues, complete with grooms in flight suits, women throwing themselves to the ground, occasional pop songs and romantic dances—even a bride falling in love. Reuniting Signature's 2007-08 Playwright-in-Residence Charles Mee with his longtime collaborator Tina Landau, Big Love is a colossal, poetic work that explores the hunger for independence, the burden of tradition, and the shape and size of love.
Support for Big Love has been generously provided by True Love Productions.
A New Play **WORLD PREMIERE**
Written and directed by Athol Fugard
April – May 2015
The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre
Signature is delighted to welcome back Athol Fugard for the world premiere of his newest play. A trio of Fugard’s plays—Blood Knot, My Children! My Africa!, and The Train Driver christened The Pershing Square Signature Center in the 2012 Inaugural Season and introduced Signature audiences to Fugard’s rich body of work. As he did with Blood Knot and The Train Driver, Fugard will direct this new production.
RESIDENCY FIVE
OUR LADY OF KIBEHO **WORLD PREMIERE**
By Katori Hall
Directed by Michael Greif
Final Performance Played on December 7, 2014
About SIGNATURE THEATRE
Signature Theatre exists to honor and celebrate the playwright. Founded in 1991 by James Houghton, Signature makes an extended commitment to a playwright’s body of work, and during this journey, the writer is engaged in every aspect of the creative process. By championing in-depth explorations of a playwright’s body of work, Signature delivers an intimate and immersive journey into the playwright’s singular vision. In 2014 Signature became the first New York City theatre to receive the Regional Theatre Tony Award®.
Signature serves its mission through its permanent home at The Pershing Square Signature Center, a three-theatre facility on West 42nd Street designed by Frank Gehry Architects to host Signature’s three distinct playwrights’ residencies and foster a cultural community. At the Center, opened in January 2012, Signature continues its founding Playwright-in-Residence model as Residency One, a first-of-its-kind, intensive exploration of a single writer’s body of work. Residency Five, the only program of its kind, was launched at the Center to support multiple playwrights as they build bodies of work by guaranteeing each writer three productions over a five-year period. The Legacy Program, launched during Signature’s 10th Anniversary, invites writers from both residencies back for productions of premiere or earlier plays.
The Pershing Square Signature Center is a major contribution to New York City’s cultural landscape and provides a venue for cultural organizations that supports and encourages collaboration among artists throughout the space. In addition to its three intimate theatres, the Center features a studio theatre, rehearsal studio, and a public café, bar and bookstore. Through the Signature Ticket Initiative: A Generation of Access, Signature has also made an unprecedented commitment to making its productions accessible by underwriting the cost of initial run tickets, currently priced at $25, through 2031.
Signature has presented entire seasons of the work of Edward Albee, Lee Blessing, Horton Foote, Maria Irene Fornes, Athol Fugard, John Guare, David Henry Hwang, Bill Irwin, Adrienne Kennedy, Tony Kushner, Romulus Linney, Charles Mee, Arthur Miller, Sam Shepard, Paula Vogel, August Wilson, Lanford Wilson, and a season celebrating the historic Negro Ensemble Company. In addition to the Regional Theatre Tony Award®, Signature’s productions and its resident writers have been recognized with the Pulitzer Prize, Lucille Lortel Awards, Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards, and AUDELCO Awards, among many other distinctions.
Comments