Susan Sarandon and Marin Ireland to star in Jesse Eisenberg's Happy Talk

The New Group's world premiere of Happy Talk begins performances at Pershing Square Signature Center on April 30, 2019.

Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon will return to the New York stage this spring, alongside Tony Award nominee Marin Ireland, in The New Group's world premiere production of Jesse Eisenberg's Happy Talk.

Previously announced under the title of Yea, Sister!, the play is scheduled to begin previews at Pershing Square Signature Center's Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre on April 30, 2019, ahead of an official opening on May 16 and a limited engagement through to June 2, 2019.

Synopsis: "Lorraine (Susan Sarandon) is a saint of the suburbs. On top of trying to save her dying mother, miserable husband and estranged daughter, she's starring as Bloody Mary in the Jewish Community Center production of South Pacific. When her mother's home aide, Serbian immigrant Ljuba (Marin Ireland), asks for help finding a husband, Lorraine takes on her most challenging role to date: matchmaker. In Jesse Eisenberg's hysterical and devastating play, Happy Talk, he reveals the absurd lengths people go to save themselves in the name of saving others."

Directed by Scott Elliott, the creative team behind Happy Talk features scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Clint Ramos, lighting design by Jeff Croiter and sound design by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen.

Academy Award nominee Jesse Eisenberg, perhaps best known for his film roles in "The Social Network," "Zombieland," and as Lex Luthor in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," previously collaborated with The New Group with the world premiere production of his play The Spoils. His other plays include The Revisionist and Asuncion, both produced by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater at the Cherry Lane Theatre. He also starred in all three of his aforementioned plays.

Susan Sarandon won an Oscar in 1996 for her performance in "Dead Man Walking" and had previously earned a total of four Oscar nominations - for "The Client" in 1995, for "Lorenzo's Oil" in 1993, for "Thelma & Louise" in 1992, and for "Atlantic City, USA" in 1982. As an actor, she has also earned a total of nine Golden Globe nominations and five Emmy Award nominations throughout her career on screen. Sarandon last appeared on the New York stage in the 2009 Broadway revival of Exit the King. She earned Drama Desk Award nominations for her Off-Broadway performances in Extremities in 1983 and A Couple White Chicks Sitting Around Talking in 1980 and she made her Broadway debut in An Evening With Richard Nixon and... in 1972.

Marin Ireland earned a Tony Award nomination in 2009 for her Broadway debut in Reasons To Be Pretty. Other Broadway credits include After Miss Julie and The Big Knife. She was recently seen off-Broadway in Atlantic Theater Company's world premiere of Blue Ridge, as well as Classic Stage Company's revival of Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke. Her screen credits include "Hell or High Water," "Glass Chin," and "Homeland".

Additional casting for Happy Talk will be announced at a later date.