Primary Stages 2008 - 2009 season presents one world premiere and three NY Premieres

Primary Stages 2008 - 2009 season of four productions, at 59E59 Theaters, include one world premiere and three New York premieres. The season features plays by A.R. Gurney, Lee Blessing, Donald Margulies and Tina Howe.

Buffalo Gal by A.R. Gurney. (New York premiere)
Director: Mark Lamos
Cast: TBA
Synopsis: Centers around Amanda, a once successful television personality whose star is now fading. Life imitates art as she returns to her hometown of Buffalo to star in Chekov�s The Cherry Orchard. Just as she is connecting with her roots � both on stage and off � she is called back to Hollywood for a role that could recharge her career. Will the love of theater be enough to keep her in Buffalo?

Previews: 22 Jul 2008
Opens: tba
Closes: 30 Aug 2008

A.R. Gurney, the author of 'Love Letters' and 'The Dining Room,' has given Primary Stages audiences rare theatrical treasures such as 'The Fourth Wall,' and the Outer Critics Circle Award-winning 'Indian Blood.' Mark Lamos returns to Primary Stages to direct the New York premiere.

A Body of Water by Lee Blessing (New York premiere)
Director: Maria Mileaf
Cast: TBA
Synopsis: The story of Avis and Moss who awake one morning in a house set in the forested hills above a picturesque body of water. The weather�s great, the view�s magnificent. However, neither of them seems to know whose house this is or who they are. Will a stranger at their doorstep be able to help?

Previews: 16 Sep 2008
Opens: tba
Closes: 25 Oct 2008

Lee Blessing is the author of such plays as the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize nominated 'A Walk in the Woods' and the Primary Stages Outer Critics Circle Award winning production of 'Going to St. Ives.' Maria Mileaf returns to Primary Stages to direct.

Shipwrecked! An Entertainment � The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (As Told By Himself) by Donald Margulies (New York Premiere)
Director: TBA
Cast: TBA
Synopsis: A tale of adventure that left England spellbound in the 19th century is the center of attention in Donald Margulies' play. Louis de Rougemont invites you to hear his amazing story of bravery, survival and celebrity. Shipwrecked! examines how far we're willing to blur the line between fact and fiction in order to leave our mark on the world.

Previews: 27 Jan 2009
Opens: TBA
Closes: 7 Mar 2009

Donald Margulies is the writer of 'Sight Unseen,' 'Collected Stories' and the Pulitzer Prize winning 'Dinner with Friends.' Margulies returns to Primary Stages where his play 'The Model Apartment' won him an Obie Award for Playwriting.

Chasing Manet by Tina Howe (World Premiere)
Director: TBA
Cast: Jane Alexander, further casting to be announced.
Synopsis: A rebellious painter from a distinguished family in Boston and an ebullient Jewish woman with a huge adoring family form an unlikely bond. Inside the confining walls of Mount Airy Nursing Home, the two plot an escape to Paris aboard the QE2. But can they possibly pull it off amidst the chaos of their surroundings?

Previews: 24 Mar 2009
Opens: TBA
Closes: 2 May 2009

Tony Award-nominated playwright Tina Howe is best known for 'Coastal Disturbances' and 'Painting Churches.' This world premiere of Chasing Manet marks her first collaboration with Primary Stages.

Casey Childs, Executive Producer at Primary Stages said, "We are so happy and pleased to announce a season that includes works by such great award-winning playwrights. I am thrilled for Tina Howe to join our growing roster of illustrious playwrights.� Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director, said, "I am delighted to have Mark Lamos and Maria Mileaf return to Primary Stages following their critically acclaimed productions of Indian Blood and Going to St. Ives.�

Primary Stages, the resident company at 59E59 Theaters, was founded in 1984 as a New York State nonprofit theatre company with the mission of producing new plays and nurturing the development of playwrights. Primary Stages has contributed to the non-profit theatre community by producing 22 seasons and over 90 productions. By fostering an environment where writers are encouraged to explore the scope of their creative vision, Primary Stages has been instrumental in developing the skills of hundreds of young artists as well as helping to create a library of new works for the American theatre.

The company has given life to many new plays (many of them world premieres) by such writers as Charles Busch, Constance Congdon, A. R. Gurney, Willy Holtzman, David Ives, Julia Jordan, Gen LeRoy, Romulus Linney, Donald Margulies, Melissa Manchester, Terrence McNally, Conor McPherson, Lanie Robertson, John Patrick Shanley, and Mac Wellman.

Over the years the company has received more than 20 theatre and literary awards, including the Lucille Lortel, the Obie, the Outer Critics Circle, several Drama Desk nominations and three AUDELCO Awards. The Stendhal Syndrome; No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs; One Million Butterflies; Boy; Indian Blood; Sabina; and In The Continuum (currently on national tour) are among the many plays that received their world premieres at Primary Stages.