The Committee Theatre will present the New York premiere of I (Heart) Kant, a new play by Ken Urban, directed by Dylan McCullough. Performances will begin September 8th, and continue through October 2nd, at The Linhart Theater at 440 Studios (440 Lafayette Street, between Astor Place and East 4th Street, across from the Public Theatre).
"Four women who call the Garden State home are lost, stifled by sex, drugs, dead-end jobs and unfinished dissertations. In a play that weaves together four stories, and features a talking stuffed cat and the ideas of philosopher Immanuel Kant, the women search for happiness and instead stumble upon the sublime. This is the first play of Ken Urban's
The New Jersey Trilogy," state press notes.
I (Heart) Kant will feature Kate Benson, Steven Boyer, Kate Downing, Edelen McWillams, and Frances Mercanti-Anthony. The show will have scenic design by Lee Savage, costume design by Emily Rebholz, lighting design by Thom Weaver, and sound design by Elizabeth Rhodes.
Urban's plays have been produced and developed by Moving Arts,
Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, Soho Rep, Rude Guerrilla, Annex
Theatre, Luna Stage, kef productions, Son of Semele Ensemble, and
others. His play
The Absence of Weather was the winner of Moving Arts
2004 Premiere One-Act Competition and received a full production in Los
Angeles in February 2005. He was recently a Tennessee Williams Scholar
at the 2006 Sewanee Writers Conference with
Lee Blessing. His plays
have been published or featured in
New York Theatre Review (Ed. Book
Stowe, with an introduction by Aleks Sierz),
Plays and Playwrights 2002
(Ed. Martin Denton),
The Best Women's Stage Monologues 2001 (Ed. D.L.
Lepidus),
The Best Women's Stage Monologues of the Millennium (Ed.
Joyce Henry),
The Brooklyn Rail and
The Brooklyn Review. He teaches at
Harvard University.
Performances will be Thursday through Saturday and Monday evenings at 8 PM with performances Sunday at 7 PM. Please note there will be no performances Monday September 11th or Thursday September 14th. Tickets will be $18 and are available by calling 212.352.3101 or online at
www.theatermania.com.
The performance on Saturday September 16th is a benefit and will feature a reception and a panel discussion with the cast and Obie-Award winning playwrights Matthew Maguire (
The Seven Deadly Elements, Eye Figure Fiction) and Lisa D'Amour (
Stanley, The Cataract). Tickets for that performance and post-show discussion/reception will be $30.