Middletown: Linus Roache and Heather Burns to star

Linus Roache and Heather Burnsare to star in the World-Premiere of Will Eno's play Middletown, directed by Ken Rus Schmoll, which begins previews at the Vineyard Theatre on 6 Oct 2010.

Middletown explores the universe of a small American town. As a friendship develops between longtime resident John Dodge (Roache) and new arrival Mary Swanson (Burns), the lives of the inhabitants of Middletown intersect in strange and poignant ways in a journey that takes them from the local library to outer space and points between.

Additional casting and design team for Middletown is to be announced.

Linus Roache made his NY Theatre debut in both productions of Shakespeare's 'Coriolanus' and 'Richard II'at B.A.M. opposite Ralph Fiennes. He was also a member of The Royal Shakespeare Company in the UK. Linus is known to YV audiances for his role as 'Asst D.A. Michael Cutler' on 'Law & ORder' from 2008 to 2010. Other television credits include roles in HBO's The Gathering Storm', NBC's Kidnapped', and he received a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Robert Kennedy in the FX TV film, 'RFK.' Linus' film credits include 'Wings of a Dove,' 'Hart's War,' 'Priest' and and 'Batman Begins.'

Heather Burn's theatre credits include 'Fran's Bed' (Playwrights Horizons) and 'Lobby Hero' (Playwrights Horizons and the John Houseman Theater), Woody Allen's 'Writers Block' (the Atlantic Theater), the West End production of 'This is our Youth,', and, most recently, Christopher Durang's 'The Marriage of Bette and Boo' (Roundabout). Burn's can currently be seen in the HBO comedy series 'Bored to Death' opposite Jason Schwartzman and Zach Galifianakis. Film credits include 'Breaking pwards,' 'Choke,' 'Miss Congeniality (1 & 2),' 'Bewitched,' 'Two Weeks Notice' and 'You've got Mail.'

Will Eno's play 'Thom Pain (based on nothing)' was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and enjoyed a year-long run Off-Broadway in 2004 following its debut at the International Edinburgh Fringe Festival and a subsequent transfer to London's Soho Theatre. His play 'The Flue Season' won the 2004 Oppenheimer Award for best debut production. His other plays include 'Tragedy: a Tragedy'TRAGEDY: a tragedy, and "Oh, the Humanity and other exclamations,' which debuted at the Flea Theater.

Ken Rus Schmoll directed the Vineyard Theatre's production of Anne Wasburn's play 'The Internationalist,' and won an OBIE for his direction of 'Telephone' by Ariana Reines, at the Cherry Lane.