New York, NY (December 18, 2007) –
LAByrinth Theater Company
(John Ortiz, Artistic Director; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Co-Artistic
Director; John Gould Rubin, Co-Artistic Director & Executive
Director), in residence at The Public Theater, has announced dates and
partial casting for the second production of their 2007-2008 season:
the world premiere of
UNCONDITIONAL by
Brett C. Leonard with direction by
Mark Wing-Davey.
Preview performances begin Thursday, February 7, 2008 at The Public
Theater (425 Lafayette Street) for a limited engagement through Sunday,
March 2, 2008.
Opening night is set for Monday, February 18, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
UNCONDITIONAL is a new
play, in which nine New York stories converge in a racially and
sexually charged tale of love, justice, rage and betrayal.
The production features LAByrinth Company Members
Chris Chalk (Roundabout's
The Overwhelming,
Before The Devil Knows You're Dead),
Trevor Long (MTC's
Defiance, Brett C. Leonard's
Scotch and Water), and
Elizabeth Rodriguez (LAByrinth's
The Last Days of Judas Iscariot,
Miami Vice), who will be joined by
Anna Chlumsky (
My Girl,
Blood Car),
William Forsythe (
American Me,
Once Upon a Time in America),
Kevin Geer (
Twelve Angry Men and
Side Man on Broadway), and
Yolonda Ross (
Shortbus,
I'm Not There, making her stage debut). The full cast will be announced shortly.
The creative team includes
Mark Wendland (Set),
Mimi O'Donnell (Costumes),
Japhy Weideman (Lighting), and
Bart Fasbender (Sound).
The production's scenic design will transform the LuEsther Hall at The Public, where
UNCONDITIONAL
will be staged in the round, allowing LAByrinth to offer tiered pricing
for the first time. Regular seating, at both ends of the stage, is
priced at $50, with Gallery seating on raised platforms at either side
of the stage available at $35. Single tickets go on sale Friday,
January 4, 2008 and will be available online at
LABtheater.org
or by phone at (212) 967-7555. Tickets can also be purchased in person
at The Public Theater Box Office (425 Lafayette Street, hours Sunday
and Monday from 1.00pm to 6.00pm, and Tuesday through Saturday from
1.00pm to 7.30pm).
The performance schedule for
UNCONDITIONAL is Tuesdays
and Sundays at 7:00 p.m., Wednesdays to Saturdays at 8:00 p.m.,
Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. Please note there will be no
2:00p.m. performance February 9th; no performances February 12th and
19th; and no tickets available for Opening Night on Monday, February
18th.
LABpass subscribers can make their advance reservations from Wednesday
December 19. New LABpass subscriptions are available at $85 (which
includes a pair of discounted tickets for
UNCONDITIONAL) and may be purchased by calling (212) 260-2400 or online at
LABtheater.org.
BIOGRAPHIES____________________________________________________________________________
BRETT C. LEONARD (
Playwright). LAByrinth Company Member since 2003. Playwriting credits include
Guinea Pig Solo
(LAByrinth/The Public Theater co-production, Chicago's Chopin
Theater/Collaboraction: Chicago Tribune's "Top 10 of 2005" and "The
most visceral show of the year," Berlin's House of World Culture, as
part of the Berlin Arts Festival's 50th Anniversary),
Roger and Vanessa (London's Latchmere Theatre 503, L.A.'s Actors' Gang, Sydney's Tap Gallery),
Scotch and Water (London's New Company, Critics’ Choice – Time Out London). Short Plays include
Bobo an' Spyder... (NY's Production Company/Australia Project),
Beauty and Light (Chicago's Collaboraction Sketchbook '05),
Interrogation (Sketchbook '06). Leonard's debut feature film
Jailbait,
starring Michael Pitt and Stephen Adly Guirgis, premiered at the
Tribeca Film Festival, won both the Grand Jury Prize and Emerging
Filmmaker Award at the Lake Placid Film Festival, was released
theatrically nationwide and is currently available on Warner Brothers’
DVD. Leonard is also Associate Artistic Director of London's Shotgun
Theatre Company.
MARK WING-DAVEY (
Director). Directed LAByrinth's 2006 production of
The School of the Americas
by José Rivera. His other credits include Caryl Churchill’s Mad
Forest (New York Theater Workshop: OBIE Award for Outstanding Director
of the Year),
Owners by Caryl Churchill (New York Theater Workshop),
The Lights by Howard Korder (Lincoln Center: seven Drama Desk nominations, including Best Director),
Angels in America by Tony Kushner (American Conservatory Theatre: Bay Area Critics Circle Award for Best Director),
Oleanna by David Mamet (Seattle Repertory Theatre),
The Beaux Stratagem by George Farquhar (Berkeley Repertory Theatre: Bay Area Critics Circle nomination for Best Director),
Troilus and Cressida (Delacorte Theater), Edward Albee’s
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Nottingham Playhouse), Caryl Churchill’s
Light Shining in Buckinghamshire (Royal National Theatre), the U.S. premiere of Caryl Churchill’s
The Skriker (New York Shakespeare Festival), Bertolt Brecht’s
Life of Galileo (Berkeley Repertory Theatre),
36 Views
by Naomi Iizuka (Berkeley Repertory Theatre and The Public Theatre:
2002 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Director ), the UK premiere of
Passions by Sarah Ruhl (Tristan Bates Theatre),
Henry V starring Liev Schreiber (New York Shakespeare Festival), Craig Lucas’s
Small Tragedy (Playwrights Horizons),
Batboy (Shaftesbury Playhouse, West End),
The Listener by Craig Lucas (Juilliard’s 100th Anniversary Celebration), Amy Freed’s
Safe In Hell (Yale Repertory Theatre), Carson Kreitzer’s
1:23 (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park), and Sarah Ruhl’s
Passion Play
(Goodman Theatre). He has been an adjunct and visiting professor in
NYU’s Graduate Acting Program. He has given master classes and
workshops at NYU, Yale School of Drama, Yale University, Barnard
College, Columbia University, Princeton University, ACT (San
Francisco), UC Berkeley, The Actors Center (London), and BADA (London
& Oxford).
LABYRINTH THEATER COMPANY was
founded in 1992 by a group of actors who wanted to push their artistic
limits, hone their craft, and create new plays that truly reflected
their heritage and experience. Today, LAByrinth is comprised of almost
100 established and emerging theater artists from a wide array of
cultural perspectives. Led by Artistic Director John Ortiz, co-Artistic
Director Philip Seymour Hoffman and co-Artistic Director and Executive
Director John Gould Rubin, the inclusive, multicultural ensemble
encourages all members to write, act, direct, and design, and supports
multidisciplinary growth and exploration in the creation of daring new
work that celebrates the diversity of its New York City home.
Over the last fifteen seasons, LAByrinth has developed hundreds of new plays and staged 48 productions including:
A View from 151st Street (2007),
Jack Goes Boating (2007),
A Small, Melodramatic Story (2006),
Sailor’s Song (2004),
Dutch Heart of Man (2003),
Dirty Story (2003),
Our Lady of 121st Street (2002),
Where’s My Money? (2001),
Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train (2000), and
In Arabia, We’d All Be Kings
(1999). Now in its fifth season of residency at The Public Theater,
LAByrinth also collaborates with The Public to develop new work, with
co-productions such as the forthcoming world premiere of
The Little Flower of East Orange by Stephen Adly Guirgis, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman (March 2008),
School of The Americas (2006),
The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (2005), and Brett C. Leonard's previous LAByrinth play,
Guinea Pig Solo (2004). For more information on LAByrinth Theater Company and
UNCONDITIONAL visit
LABtheater.org.
