Let Me Down Easy extends through to 6 Dec

Second Stage Theatre have announced that the New York premiere of Let Me Down Easy has extended its run by four weeks and will now play through to 6 Dec 2009.

Conceived, written, and performed by Anna Deavere Smith and directed by Leonard Foglia, Let Me Down Easy opened at Second Stage Theatre on 7 Oct 2009, following previews from 15 Sep and was originally scheduled to close on 8 Nov 2009.

The play opened to positive reviews: "continually engaging" (NY Times); "about death and dying, but please don't run away" (NewsDay); "required viewing for ..., anyone who has a body" (Back Stage); "a totally vital piece of theater" (Variety).

Let Me Down Easy is an exploration of the power of the body and the resilience of the human spirit, featuring first person accounts from a wide variety of sources, including Lance Armstrong, Anderson Cooper, and former Texas Governor Ann Richards. The play explores the world of healthcare from both the patient and practitioner perspective.

The show features scenic design by Riccardo Hernandez, costume design by Ann Hould-Ward and lighting design by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhaue.

During the eight-year development of this project, Smith interviewed hundreds of subjects, including doctors and patients at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Yale University School of Medicine and Stanford School of Medicine and Hospital, as well as healthcare practitioners in Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa and in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

Working closely with director Leonard Foglia, Smith has re-conceived Let Me Down Easy from the earlier developmental versions presented at New Haven's Long Wharf Theatre (winter 2008) and Boston's American Repertory Theatre (summer 2008).

Anna Deavere Smith's work in the theater explores American character and our multifaceted national identity. She has won numerous awards, among them two Obies, two Tony nominations and a MacArthur fellowship. She was runner up for the Pulitzer Prize for her play 'Fires In the Mirror.' Her work combines the journalistic technique of interviewing her subjects with the art of interpreting their words through performance.