NYTW Announces Free Panel Discussion For THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER 11/21

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) Artistic Director James C. Nicola and Managing Director William Russo, and The Acting Company Producing Artistic Director Margot Harley have announced that there will be a free panel discussion following the matinee performance of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter on Saturday, November 21. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, written by Rebecca Gilman, based on the novel by Carson McCullers, directed by Doug Hughes, opens Thursday, December 3, at NYTW, 79 East 4 Street.

The panel discussion will focus on Rebecca Gilman's adaptation of Carson McCullers's novel to the stage. Panelists include playwright Gilman, Anne Bogart, Will Power, and Doug Wright. Debra Cardona, dramaturg for The Classical Theatre of Harlem, will moderate.

Anne Bogart is the Artistic Director of the SITI Company, which she founded with Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki in 1992. She is a Professor at Columbia University where she runs the Graduate Directing Program. Works with SITI include Antigone, Under Construction, Freshwater, Who Do You Think You Are, Radio Macbeth; Hotel Cassiopeia; Death and the Ploughman; La Dispute; Score; bobrauschenbergamerica; Room; War of the Worlds; Cabin Pressure; The Radio Play; Alice's Adventures; Culture of Desire; Bob; Going, Going, Gone; Small Lives/Big Dreams; The Medium; Noel Coward's Hay Fever and Private Lives; August Strindberg's Miss Julie; and Charles Mee's Orestes. She is the author of three books: A Director Prepares, The Viewpoints Book and And Then, You Act.

Doug Wright's work for the theatre includes I Am My Own Wife (Pulitzer and Tony Awards), Quills (OBIE Award, subsequent film adaptation), Grey Gardens, Unwrap Your Candy, and The Little Mermaid.

Will Power is an award-winning playwright and performer. His adaptation of the Greek tragedy Seven Against Thebes, re-titled The Seven, enjoyed a successful Off-Broadway run at the New York Theatre Workshop in 2006 and The La Jolla Playhouse in 2008. His solo show Flow was featured in the Hip Hop Theater Festival before touring nationally and internationally to critical acclaim. Power's numerous awards include a United States Artist Prudential Fellowship, a Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical, the TCG Peter Zeisler Memorial Award, a Jury Award for Best Theatre Performance at the HBO US Comedy Arts Festival, a Drama Desk Award nomination, and the Trailblazer Award from The National Black Theater Network. Power's numerous film and television appearances include "The Steven Colbert Report" (Comedy Central), and "Bill Moyers on Faith and Reason" (PBS). Originally from the Fillmore District in San Francisco, Will Power currently resides in Beacon, New York with his wife Marla and their two children.

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter plays at New York Theatre Workshop, 79 East 4th Street, between Second Avenue and Bowery. The regular performance schedule is Tuesday at 7:00pm, Wednesday through Friday at 8:00pm, Saturday at 3:00pm and 8:00pm, and Sunday at 2:00pm and 7:00pm. There will be special student matinees on Wednesday, November 25 at 12pm and Wednesday, December 16 at 1pm. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter runs through December 20, 2009. Tickets are $65 and may be purchased online at www.telecharge.com, 24 hours a day, seven days a week or by phoning Telecharge.com at (212) 239-6200. For exact dates and times of performances, visit www.nytw.org.