The Shawn/Gregory Project will present two Wallace Shawn plays, directed by André Gregory.

The Public Theater and Theater for a New Audience will present The Wallace Shawn - André Gregory Project in 2013, a celebration of the 40-year collaboration between Wallace Shawn and André Gregory.

The project will present two of Wallace Shawn's plays, The Designated Mourner and Grasses Of A Thousand Colors, under André Gregory's direction.

The Designated Mourner will run from 21 Jun through to 25 Aug 2013 at The Public's Shiva Theater for its first New York revival. The cast will include Shawn as well as Deborah Eisenberg and Larry Pine - original company members from the 2000 New York production.

The Designated Mourner is a monologue-triptych in which three artist-intellectuals describe their experiences as their once-liberal country sinks into totalitarianism. A famous poet-intellectual, his daughter, and her husband — people made of very different moral fiber despite their shared highbrow background — observe the subtle and flagrant transformations to everyday life, public affairs and personal relationships as their government brutally cracks down on anyone suspected of subversion.

Grasses Of A Thousand Colors, which had its world premiere at the Royal Court Theatre in 2009, will have its American Premiere at The Public's Shiva Theater running from 8 Oct - 10 Nov 2013. Shawn, Emily McDonnell and Jennifer Tilly will reprise the roles they first created in the London production.

Grasses Of A Thousand Colors touches on almost every imaginable form of sexual expression while spinning a dystopian fantasy about ecological disaster. Ben, the play's central character, is a doctor who believes he has solved world hunger when he figures out how to rejigger the metabolisms of animals to tolerate eating their own kind. He ends up ruining the global ecosystem.

Public Theater's Artistic Director Oskar Eustis said, "The Public is proud to collaborate with Theatre for a New Audience in bringing this remarkable repertory to the New York audience. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the work of these seminal artists in its most perfect expression."

Jeffrey Horowitz, founding Artistic Director of Theatre for a New Audience, said, "It's thrilling to be co-producing The Wallace Shawn-André Gregory Project with The Public Theater and celebrate this remarkable theatrical collaboration. Wallace Shawn is one of America's most significant playwrights, long overdue for a major retrospective."

Wallace Shawn (Playwright/Performer). His plays include 'The Designated Mourner,' 'Grasses of a Thousand Colors,' 'The Fever,' 'Aunt Dan & Lemon' and 'Marie and Bruce.' With André Gregory, he wrote the film' My Dinner With André,' and with Tom Cairns he wrote the film 'Marie and Bruce.' Scott Elliott directed 'Aunt Dan & Lemon' and directed Shawn as an actor in 'Hurlyburly.' Shawn was the editor of "Final Edition," which contained work by Deborah Eisenberg, Mark Strand and Jonathan Schell, and Shawn's interview with Noam Chomsky.

André Gregory (Director) has directed numerous productions at The Public including 'Jinxs Bridge,' 'Alice in Wonderland,' 'Our Late Night' and 'The Seagull.' A director, producer, and actor, he has appeared on Broadway in 'Rumors' and Off-Broadway in 'The Middle Ages' and 'Time to Go.' Gregory wrote the screenplay for "Vanya on 42nd Street" and co-wrote "Dinner with André" with Wallace Shawn. His select film credits include "My Dinner with André," "Author! Author!," "The Mosquito Coast," "The Last Temptation of Jesus Christ," "Street Smart," "Goodbye Lover" and "Celebrity."