Atlantic Theater Company has just announced that Michael Countryman, Charlotte Parry, and John Sharian will join Olivier Award winner and Tony Award® nominee Simon Russell Beale, Tobias Segal, Kate Blumberg, Mary McCann, and Todd Weeks in the U.S. premiere of Simon Stephen's play BLUEBIRD, directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch.
As the first production of Atlantic's 2011-2012 season, BLUEBIRD will begin previews Tuesday, August 9, officially open Monday, August 22, and play a limited engagement through Friday, September 9, 2011 off-Broadway at Atlantic Stage 2 (330 West 16 Street).
Jimmy MacNeill (Beale) is a London taxi driver who seems to draw personal stories and confessions from his passengers without even trying. Over the course of Simon Stephens' meticulously observed and deeply compassionate play, the truth of Jimmy's own life and secret burdens unfurls with each new "fare." In this acclaimed early play, the first of several he has since had produced at
The Royal Court Theatre, Stephens illuminates big questions about how we transcend our own mistakes, and the value and cost of intimacy. He is an unparalleled observer of the small details that unlock joy and pain for the throngs of people anonymously going about their business in the big city.
Michael Countryman recently appeared on Broadway in
Mary Stuart and now returns to Atlantic following his performances in The New York Idea and the 10x25 play festival last season.
Charlotte Parry makes her Atlantic debut in BLUEBIRD, having just completed the sell-out run of The Importance of Being Earnest on Broadway. Also making his Atlantic debut,
John Sharian has appeared in numerous London stage productions, including
Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind at London's BAC and The Sweetest Swing in Baseball at the Royal Court.
BLUEBIRD's creative team will feature
Rachel Hauck (Scenic Design), Sarah Holden (Costume Design),
Ben Stanton (Lighting Design) and
Darron West (Sound Design).
BLUEBIRD will play Monday - Saturday at 7:30pm, Saturday at 2:30pm, with special Wednesday matinees at 2:30pm on August 31 and September 7.
All non-member tickets are $55.00 and available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 (
ticketcentral.com) or in person at Atlantic Stage 2's box office, located at 330 West 16th Street, between 8th & 9th Avenues.
Atlantic's Stage 2 programming and new play development activities are made possible, in part, by the leadership support of Time Warner, Inc.
Stage 2 programs are also supported by the Axe-Houghton Foundation, the
Barbara Bell Cumming Foundation, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, the
John Golden Fund, the
Lucille Lortel Foundation, the Lila Acheson Wallace Fund for the Arts, and the Shubert Foundation as well as public funds from the New York Department of Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts which is celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State's 62 counties.
Photo Credit: Kevin Thomas Garcia
