Playwrights Horizons To Present 'New Plays, Tough Times' Panel At 92YTribeca 9/10

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) and 92YTribeca have announced that they will present "NEW PLAYS, TOUGH TIMES" at 92YTribeca (200 Hudson Street) on Thursday evening, September 10 at 7:30 PM. Moderated by Time Out New York's Theater editor and chief drama critic David Cote, the panel discussion will feature all eight writers from Playwrights Horizons' upcoming 2009/2010 Season.

The event will offer a first-look at the award-winning theater company's season line-up and represents a unique opportunity to catch eight gifted artists onstage together at one time. Offering insights into their creative processes and answering questions from the audience, the eight writers are:

* Daniel Goldfarb (Modern Orthodox, Adam Baum and the Jew Movie, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me), whose play The Retributionists kicks off the new season with its World Premiere, beginning previews August 21, 2009, produced in association with South Ark Stage

* Annie Baker (Body Awareness), whose play Circle Mirror Transformation will have its World Premiere at Playwrights Horizons beginning previews September 24, 2009

* Melissa James Gibson ([sic]), whose play This will have its World Premiere at Playwrights Horizons beginning November 2009

* Bruce Norris (The Pain and the Itch), whose play Clybourne Park will have its World Premiere at Playwrights Horizons beginning January 2010

* Kia Corthron (Breath, Boom; Force Continuum), whose play A Cool Dip in the Barren Saharan Crick will have its World Premiere at Playwrights Horizons beginning March 2010 in a co-production with The Play Company and Culture Project

* Mariana Elder, who wrote the book for the new musical The Burnt Part Boys, which will have its New York City Premiere at Playwrights Horizons in a co-production with Vineyard Theatre beginning April 2010

* Nathan Tysen (Fugitive Songs), who wrote the lyrics for the new musical The Burnt Part Boys

* Chris Miller (Fugitive Songs, Songs from an Unmade Bed) who wrote the music for the new musical The Burnt Part Boys

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at www.92y.org or by calling Y-Charge at (212) 601-1000. 92YTribeca is the 92nd Street Y's exciting new arts and entertainment venue located at 200 Hudson Street at the corner of Canal and Hudson Streets in New York City.

David Cote is Theater editor and chief drama critic for Time Out New York. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The Times (UK), Opera News and the Guardian. For the Best Plays Yearbook series, he contributed essays on Shining City, Blackbird and The Receptionist. He is a member of the New York Drama Critics Circle, and a contributing critic on NY-1's On Stage. He has written three popular companion books to hit Broadway musicals: Wicked: The Grimmerie, Jersey Boys and Spring Awakening: In the Flesh.

Playwrights Horizons, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, is a writer's theater dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American Playwrights, composers and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. In its 39 years, Playwrights Horizons has presented the work of more than 375 writers and has received numerous awards and honors, most recently being honored with a special 2008 Drama Desk Award for "ongoing support to generations of theater artists and undiminished commitment to producing new work." Notable productions include four Pulitzer Prize winners: Doug Wright's I Am My Own Wife (2004 Tony Award, Best Play), Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles (1989 Tony Award, Best Play), Alfred Uhry's Driving Miss Daisy and Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George, as well as Doug Wright, Scott Frankel and Michael Korie's Grey Gardens (three 2007 Tony Awards), Craig Lucas's Prayer For My Enemy and Small Tragedy (2004 Obie Award, Best American Play), Adam Rapp's Kindness, Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's Assassins, Sarah Ruhl's Dead Man's Cell Phone, Bruce Norris's The Pain and the Itch, Lynn Nottage's Fabulation (2005 Obie Award for Playwriting), Kenneth Lonergan's Lobby Hero, David Greenspan's She Stoops to Comedy (2003 Obie Award), Kirsten Childs's The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin (2000 Obie Award), Richard Nelson and Shaun Davey's James Joyce's The Dead, William Finn's March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, Christopher Durang's Betty's Summer Vacation and Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You, Richard Nelson's Goodnight Children Everywhere and Franny's Way, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's Once on This Island, Jon Robin Baitz's The Substance of Fire, Scott McPherson's Marvin's Room, A.R. Gurney's Later Life, Adam Guettel and Tina Landau's Floyd Collins and Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley's Violet.

Playwrights Horizons' season productions are generously supported by The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.

Playwrights Horizons is supported in part by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate. In addition, Playwrights Horizons receives major support from Carnegie Corporation of New York, Charina Endowment Fund, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Shubert Foundation and Time Warner Inc.

92YTribeca is the 92nd Street Y's new downtown arts and culture venue in New York City. Opened in October 2008, 92YTribeca presents music, comedy, film, theater, talks, classes, family events, and Jewish community and holiday programs in a versatile, street-level, modern space at 200 Hudson Street. In addition to the mainstage and screening room, the venue houses an art gallery, lounge, bar, café, seminar and meeting rooms, and free Wi-Fi around the space. With programs developed by a professional curatorial team in partnership with staff, local artists and arts organizations, new-media companies, fellow presenters, and community and cause-based organizations, 92YTribeca aims to engage a diverse community of young people from around the New York area with smart, relevant programming that encourages participation and conversation. For more information, visit www.92YTribeca.org.

For subscription and ticket information to all Playwrights Horizons productions, call TICKET CENTRAL at (212) 279-4200, Noon to 8 pm daily, or purchase online at the Playwrights Horizons website at www.playwrightshorizons.org.