Roundabout Underground presents the world premiere of Exception to the Rule, written by Dave Harris and directed by Miranda Haymon, at the Black Box Theatre. The production was initially announced as part of Roundabout Theatre Company's 2019-2020 Off-Broadway season. Exception to the Rule tickets are available on New York Theatre Guide now.
Exception to the Rule is a play about six Black who attend the worst high school in their inner city, and they're all stuck in detention. Five of them are regulars, and they know the rules, norms, and survival tactics of old Room 111. The sixth — a newcomer named Erika — does not, and she shocks everyone with her arrival, as she's one of the best students at the school with college and a bright future ahead of her. Different infractions got them all into detention in the first place, but all six have one thing in common: The institution of the school wasn't built for them, and it's a lot more than the walls of the classroom that keeped them trapped in detention. An end never seems in sight, so to pass the time, they flirt, fight, chat, tease, smoke, study, and maybe try to devise an escape plan.
The premiere of Exception to the Rule off Broadway was originally meant to mark Dave Harris's New York playwriting debut. However, with the production postponed, Exception to the Rule is now Harris's second Off-Broadway play this season alone, with the first being Tambo & Bones at Playwrights Horizons. Roundabout first hosted a reading of Exception to the Rule in 2019 through its Underground program, which provides a platform for emerging writers to showcase and develop their plays before, often, going on to productions on larger stages. Now, Roundabout Underground is mounting the play's first fully-produced run of the show, with the original director of the reading, Miranda Haymon, returning.
Tickets to Exception to the Rule are available now. Book Exception to the Rule tickets on New York Theatre Guide.
