The New Group announce new season

The New Group have announced three world premiere productions for its upcoming 2012-13 season, which will feature Francine Volpe's The Good Mother, Jonathan Marc Sherman's Clive, and Ayub Khan Din's Bunty Berman Presents.

The plays will be presented in the following season order:
Casting announcements and specific dates for each production will be forthcoming.

The Good Mother
by Francine Volpe
Directed by Scott Elliott
Cast: Gretchen Mol, with further casting to be announnced
Date: Expected fall 2012.

Synopsis: Larissa (Gretchen Mol) is a single mother who can barely meet the mortgage on her house in Mount Vernon, NY. When a bizarre incident involving her 4-year-old daughter forces her to face someone from her past, her own questionable actions come back to haunt her.

Francine Volpe's other plays include 'The Given' (directed by Michael Imperioli at Studio Dante, finalist for The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize), 'Late Fragment' (Studio Dante), 'Sweethearts' (The New Company), 'Giftbox' (stageFARM). Her work has been developed at A.C.T., Arena Stage, Naked Angels, Rattlestick Theater, SoHo Rep. Graduate of the Juilliard School, Volpe teaches screenwriting and playwriting at Sarah Lawrence College, ESPA, Stella Adler Academy in Los Angeles. Member of New Dramatists.

Scott Elliott is the founding Artistic Director of The New Group, where he has produced over 50 plays, 24 of which he directed, including the recent world premiere productions of Erika Sheffer's 'Russian Transport' and Thomas Bradshaw's 'Burning and The Kid.'

Clive
By Jonathan Marc Sherman
Director: Ethan Hawke
Cast: Ethan Hawke, with further casting to be announced.
Dates: Expected winter 2013

Synopsis: Inspired by Bertolt Brecht's inflammatory play Baal, Clive tracks a dissipated songwriter in 1990s New York City from the hedonistic heights of seduction and consumption into an ecstasy of self-destruction.

This production reunites Jonathan Marc Sherman and Ethan Hawke, who teamed previously at The New Group on Things We Want (written by Sherman, directed by Hawke, 2007 extended run).

Jonathan Marc Sherman's plays include 'Things We Want' (The New Group), 'Knickerbocker,' 'Sophistry,' 'Evolution,' 'Sons & Fathers,' 'Jesus on the Oil Tank,' 'Serendipity & Serenity,' 'Wonderful Time,' 'Veins & Thumbtacks' (the basis for the movie The Jimmy Show) and 'Women & Wallace' (which he adapted for American Playhouse).

Ethan Hawke: At The New Group: 'Blood From A Stone' (OBIE Award) and 'Hurlyburly' as an actor; and as a director, 'A Lie of the Mind' and Jonathan Marc Sherman's 'Things We Want.' Broadway: 'The Coast of Utopia' (Tony nom.), 'Henry IV' and 'The Seagull.' Off-B'way: 'Sophistry,' 'The Late Henry Moss' and 'The Bridge Project. Films include: "Training Day" (Academy Award nom.) and "Before Sunset" (Academy Award nom. as a writer, Best Adapted Screenplay). Hawke directed the films "Chelsea Walls," "Straight to One" (also wrote) and "The Hottest State" (also wrote & appeared). He has written two novels.

Bunty Berman Presents
By Ayub Khan Din (Book, Lyrics, Co-Composer) and Paul Bogaev (Co-Composer)
Director: Scott El">liott
Cast: tba, Dates: Expected Spring 2013

Synopsis: Set in a failing 1950s Bollywood studio, with songs in the style of Hollywood's Golden Age, Movie producer Bunty Berman's studio has long been the toast of Bombay, but now Raj, his biggest star and best friend, is beginning to lose his lustre. When their new movie bombs, Bunty must navigate through divas, mobsters and ambitious tea-boys to keep his studio alive.

Ayub Khan Din: 'East is East' (Royal Court Theatre, London; The New Group) which he adapted into a film. 'East is East' honors: Evening Standard Best Film Award, Writers' Guild Award for Best New Writer and also Best West End Play and John Whiting Award Best Stage Play. 'Rafta, Rafta...' (National Theatre, London; The New Group) won an Olivier Award in 2008. A film version is due for release in 2012. 'Last Dance at Dum Dum' (Ambassadors Theatre), 'Notes on Falling Leaves' (Royal Court) and 'All the Way Home' (The Library Theatre, Manchester).

Paul Bogaev is a multi-award-winning music director, arranger, conductor and composer. Broadway/Musical Director: 'Tarzan,' 'Bombay Dreams' (Tony nomination), 'Sunset Boulevard,' 'Aspects of Love,' 'Chess,' 'Les Miserables,' 'Starlight Express,' 'Cats' and 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.' Grammys for 'Aida,' for which he produced and conducted the Tony-winning score, and as Executive Producer of the soundtrack of the Academy Award-winning "Chicago." Other films include "Nine," "Across the Universe," "Dreamgirls," "The Lion King," "Tarzan" and "Mulan." Music director of ABC-TV film musicals Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella," "Annie" (Emmy) and "South Pacific."

Scott Elliott also directed Ayub Kahn Din's 'East is East' and 'Rafta, Rafta...' at The New Group.