Playwright Horizons announced additional details for its 2008/2009 Season

Playwrights Horizons has announced additional details for its 2008/2009 Season, including the final two productions of the six-play season.

The two final plays of the season are:

The Savannah Disputation � the New York premiere of a new play by Evan Smith, directed by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie, featuring Dana Ivey.

Inked Baby � the World Premiere of a new play by Christina Anderson in her Off-Broadway playwriting debut, directed by Kate Whoriskey.

The two plays join the previously announced Three Changes by Nicky Silver, Kindness by Adam Rapp, Prayer for my Enemy by Craig Lucas and Our House by Theresa Rebeck

Three Changes by Nicky Silver. (World premiere)
Director: Wilson Milam
Cast: Aya Cash (Steffi), Brian J. Smith (Gordon), Maura Tierney (Laurel), further casting tba
Synopsis: Nate and Laurel are a comfortably married, Upper West Side couple � until Nate�s wayward brother Hal arrives from Hollywood. What at first seems a casual visit, a chance to reconnect, is quickly revealed as something more ominous. Hal may have had success, but human connection is all that matters, and he intends to make connections � no matter who pays the price.
Previews: 22 Aug 2008.


Nicky Silver�s (Playwright) work was last seen at Playwrights Horizons in 1996 with his play 'Fit to be Tied.' His other plays include 'Pterodactyls,' 'The Eros Trilogy,' 'The Food Chain,' 'Fat Men in Skirts,' 'The Maiden�s Prayer,' 'Free Will' and 'Wanton Lust,' 'My Marriage to Ernest Borgnine,' 'The Altruists' and 'Raised in Captivity.'

Wilson Milam (Director) earned a 2006 Tony Award nomination for 'The Lieutenant of Inishmore.' His London credits include 'Hurlyburly' with the Peter Hall Company, 'Bug' and 'Killer Joe'. This will be Milam's Playwrights Horizons debut.

Aya Cash (Steffi) made her Off-Broadway debut at Playwrights Horizons in 'The Pain and the Itch' in 2006. Earlier this year she appeared in 'From Up Here' at Manhattan Theatre Club and additional New York credits include 'Jasper Lake' (FringeNYC) and 'The Philistines' (New Bridge Productions).

Brian J. Smith (Gordon) most recently appeared in 'Good Boys and True' at Second Stage. He made his Broadway debut this past season in 'Come Back, Little Sheba.' He has also appered off-Broadway in 'The Fabulous Life of a Size Zero.'

Maura Tierney (Laurel). New York stage credits include MCC�s production of Neil LaBute�s 'Some Girl(s)' and 'an oak tree' for The Barrow Group. She is known to television audiences for her longtime, Emmy-nominated role as 'Dr. Abby Lockhart' on �ER.�

Kindness by Adam Rapp (World premiere)
Writer and Director: Adam Rapp
Cast: Annette O�Toole (Maryanne), Ray Anthony Thomas (Herman), Katherine Waterston (France), additional casting to be announced
Synopsis: An ailing mother and her teenaged son flee Illinois and a crumbling marriage for the relative calm and safety of a midtown Manhattan hotel. Mom holds tickets to a popular musical about love and redemption. Her son, a gifted student currently enrolled at a prestigious military academy, isn�t interested. So Mom takes the kindly cabdriver instead, while the boy entertains a visitor from down the hall, an enigmatic young woman seeking solace after a tumultuous, potentially dangerous evening.
Previews: Fall of 2008


Adam Rapp (Playwright / Director) was last represented at Playwrights Horizons with 'Essential Self-Defense' in 2007. His other plays include 'Red Light Winter' (Obie Award), 'Bingo with the Indians,' 'American Sligo,' 'Blackbird.' Rapp is the Resident Playwright for Edge Theater.

Annette O�Toole (Maryanne) last appeared on the New York stage in the recent Classic Stage Company production of 'The Seagull.' Ms. O�Toole earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her leading performance as 'Rose Kennedy' in the mini-series 'The Kennedys of Massachusetts.'

Ray Anthony Thomas (Herman) was last seen in 'Forced Continuum' at the Atlantic. As an Atlantic Theater Company member, his other credits include 'The Beginning of August,' 'Women & Water,' 'The Virgin Molly,' 'Shaker Heights,' 'Distant Fires,' 'The Lights' and 'Edmond.'

Katherine Waterston (Frances) appeared in The Flea�s production of 'Los Angeles.' Other theater credits include 'Gladiators vs. Kamikazis' (Vital Signs Theatre Company), 'Smashing' (The Play Company) and 'This Is Our Youth '(Abingdon Theatre Company).

Prayer for my Enemy by Craig Lucas (New York Premiere)
Director: Bartlett Sher
Cast: Cassie Beck (Marianne), Jonathan Groff (Billy Noone), Skipp Sudduth (Austin), additional casting to be announced.
Synopsis: It�s a hell of a night for the Noones � father Austin�s watching his nature shows and trying to keep from falling off the wagon, mother Karen�s keeping an eye on Austin, son Billy�s just back from Iraq, and pregnant daughter Marianne�s upset about the state of her marriage to Tad, Billy�s childhood friend who may still harbor a crush on him. With the Red Sox battling the Yankees for the 2004 AL title, an American family�s long-held secrets are dragged to the fore in what may be its final reckoning.
Previews: Fall of 2008


Craig Lucas (Playwright) has been represented at Playwrights Horizons in 1987 with the book of the musical 'Three Postcards' and in 2004 with the play 'Small Tragedy' (Obie Award for Best New American Play). He�s been nominated for two Tony Awards (Best Play for 'Prelude to a Kiss' in 1990 and Best Book of a Musical for 'The Light in the Piazza' in 2006).

Bartlett Sher (Director) directed the play 'The Butterfly Collection' at Playwrights Horizons in 2000. He received Tony Award nominations for Best Director of a Play for 'Awake and Sing!' in 2005 and Best Director of a Musical for 'The Light in the Piazza' in 2006. He is currently represented on Broadway with the first revival of South Pacific.

Cassie Beck (Marianne) appeared last season at Playwrights Horizons in Adam Bock�s 'The Drunken City,' for which she won a 2008 Theatre World Award. She previously worked with Bock in the world premiere of 'Thursday.' Her credits with TheatreWorks include 'All My Sons,' 'Living Out' and 'Be Aggressive.'

Jonathan Groff (Billy Noone) was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk awards for his performance as 'Melchior' in Spring Awakening, a role he created Off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater. Groff will star as Claude in this summer's Shakespeare in the Park production of Hair.

Skipp Sudduth (Austin) is currently playing Captain George Brackett in South Pacific. Other Lincoln Center: 'Twelfth Night.' Broadway credits includes 'The Iceman Cometh,' 'On the Waterfront' and 'The Grapes of Wrath' (also at London's National Theatre). Off-Broadway: '10 Million Miles' and 'Writer's Block' (both at Atlantic Theater Company), 'The Big Funk' and 'Marisol' (Public Theater).

The Savannah Disputation by Evan Smith (New York Premiere)
Director: Walter Bobbie
Cast: Dana Ivey (Mary), additional casting to be announced.
Synopsis: Resurrect this! When susceptible Catholic spinster Margaret politely admits door-to-door Pentecostal missionary Melissa into her home, her seemingly-solid faith starts to waver � much to the chagrin of her feisty sister Mary. But who's the blasphemer and who's the believer? Before long, the God-fearing sisters have ambushed their steadfast 'guest' with the aid of an unsuspecting local priest, setting the scene for a showdown of truly biblical proportions.

Previews: Winter/Spring 2009


Evan Smith (Playwright). The Savannah Disputation marks Evan�s fourth work to be produced at Playwrights Horizons, following 'Remedial English' (1986, as part of the Young Playwrights Festival), 'The Uneasy Chair' (1998) and 'Psych' (2001). His other works include 'The Ecstasy of Lucy,' and 'Servicemen.'

Walter Bobbie (Director) directed the Broadway revival of Chicago, for which he won Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards. Other Broadway credits include 'High Fidelity,' 'Sweet Charity' starring Christina Applegate, 'Twentieth Century' starring Alec Baldwin and Anne Heche, 'Footloose' for which he also co-authored the book and 'A Grand Night for Singing.'

Dana Ivey (Mary) appeared in the Playwrights Horizons productions of 'Sunday in the Park with George,' 'Driving Miss Daisy,' 'Baby with the Bathwater,' and Evan Smith�s 'The Uneasy Chair.' Broadway credits include: 'Butley,' 'The Rivals,' 'Henry IV,' 'A Day in the Death of Joe Egg,' 'Major Barbara.'

Inked Baby by Christina Anderson (World Premiere)
Director: Kate Whoriskey
Cast: tba
Synopsis: Stuck for money and unable to conceive, Gloria enlists the aid of her sister to make the child that she and her husband can't. As they uneasily await the baby's arrival, a mysterious contamination spreads outside. But consumed by their own struggles, is anyone paying attention?

Previews: Spring 2009


Christina Anderson (Playwright) work has appeared at Ars Nova, Mark Taper Forum, The Coterie Theater, Rites and Reason, The Public Theater, Horizon Theater, and the Playwrights� Center.

Kate Whoriskey (Director) last worked at Playwrights Horizons in 2004, directing the world premiere of Lynn Nottage�s 'Fabulation.' Earlier this year she directed 'Oroonoko' for Theatre for a New Audience and previously directed 'The Piano Teacher' at The Vineyard.

Our House by Theresa Rebeck (New York Premiere)
Director: Michael Mayer
Cast: tba
Synopsis: What happens when news and entertainment are interchangeable? In a cautionary tale ripped from today's headlines, a power-hungry TV mogul faced with dwindling ratings installs America's favorite news anchor as host of a popular reality show. Meanwhile, in Middle America, a houseful of roommates bicker over high-stakes real-world conflicts: Merv doesn't clean the bathroom, someone ate Alice's yogurt, and the rent is long past due. When reality suddenly collides with reality TV, we find ourselves front and center in the thorniest hostage drama since Waco.

Previews: Winter/Spring 2009


Theresa Rebeck�s (Playwright) plays previously seen at Playwrights Horizons were 'The Butterfly Collection' in 2000 and 'Bad Dates' in 2003. Past New York productions of her work include 'Mauritius' at the Biltmore Theatre in a Manhattan Theater Club Production, 'The Scene,' 'The Water�s Edge,' 'Loose Knit,' 'The Family of Mann,' 'Spike Heels' and 'View of the Dome' at New York Theatre Workshop.

Michael Mayer (Director) returns to Playwrights Horizons where he previously directed 'Baby Anger' (1997), 'The Credeaux Canvas' (2001) and productions as part of four Young Playwrights Festival (1990-1993). He won Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for Spring Awakening.

Playwright Horizons, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, is a writer�s theater dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers and lyricists, and to the production of their new work.