THE COMMON PURSUIT to Play Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre in May

Roundabout Theatre Company has just announced a new Off-Broadway production of Simon Gray's comedy-drama The Common Pursuit directed by Moisés Kaufman. The Common Pursuit will begin performances May 4, 2012 and officially open on May 24, 2012 at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre / Laura Pels Theatre (111 West 46th Street). This is a limited engagement through July 29, 2012.

The full cast and creative team will be announced shortly.

The Common Pursuit chronicles twenty years in the lives of six friends, from their ambitious collegiate days to their surprising discoveries in the real world. Idealistic Cambridge student Stuart Thorne enlists some of his classmates to help him launch a new literary magazine. With the pursuit of great literature as their common thread, they become lifelong friends. But when damaging secrets crop up and business demands creep in, Stuart is faced with some unexpected decisions. Delightfully witty and remarkably poignant, The Common Pursuit is a captivating journey from who we think we are...to who we turn out to be.

Quote from Todd Haimes, Artistic Director: "This is Roundabout's first time producing the work of Simon Gray as well as working with the extraordinary Moisés Kaufman. I always look forward to showing our audiences infrequently revived plays, from the cannon of a brilliant playwright like Simon. For Roundabout, it's gratifying to do plays like The Common Pursuit on the Laura Pels stage, where we can explore these hidden gems in an intimate space. This play is beautifully crafted and it showcases incredibly vivid characters, some of the most memorable ones Simon has written. I think audiences who are new to The Common Pursuit will find it captivating and surprising. And I know Moises' talent and vision will be particularly well-suited for this play."

Moisés Kaufman most recently directed the Broadway productions of The Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, 33 Variations and I Am My Own Wife. Kaufman is currently represented off-Broadway as one of the playwrights of Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Play.

The Common Pursuit had its American premiere at Long Wharf Theater in 1985. The off-Broadway production in 1986 ran 352 performances and received the 1987 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play and the 1987 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Play.

TICKET INFORMATION:
Only Roundabout subscribers have first access to tickets. To become a Roundabout Subscriber, visit www.roundabouttheatre.org or call Roundabout Ticket Services (212) 719-1300 today. Single Tickets will be available to the general public in the winter of 2012.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
The Common Pursuit will play Tuesday through Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. with Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m.

The Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre reflects Roundabout's commitment to produce new works by established and emerging writers as well as revivals of classic plays. This state-of-the-art off-Broadway theatre and education complex is made possible by a major gift from The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust. The Trust was created in 1986 by Harold Steinberg to promote and advance American Theatre as a vital part of our culture by supporting playwrights, encouraging the development and production of new work, and providing financial assistance to theatre companies across the country. Since its inception, the Trust has awarded over $45 million to more than 100 not-for-profit theatre organizations.

Simon Gray (Playwright) was born on Hayling Island on 21st October 1936. He began his writing career with Colmain (1963), the first of five novels, all published by Faber. He is the author of many plays for TV and radio, also films, including the 1987 adaptation of J L Carr's A Month in the Country, and TV films including Running Late, After Pilkington (winner of the Prix Italia) and Emmy Award-winning Unnatural Pursuits. He wrote more than 30 stage plays amongst them Butley and Otherwise Engaged (which both received Evening Standard Awards for Best Play), Close of Play, The Rear Column, Quartermaine's Terms (winner of 8 Obie Awards), The Common Pursuit, Hidden Laughter, The Late Middle Classes (winner of the Barclay's Best Play Award), Japes, The Old Masters (his ninth play to be directed by Harold Pinter) and Little Nell, which premiered at the Theatre Royal Bath in 2007, directed by Peter Hall. Little Nell was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2006, and Missing Dates in 2008. His acclaimed works of non-fiction are: An Unnatural Pursuit, How's That for Telling 'Em, Fat Lady?, Fat Chance, Enter a Fox, The Smoking Diaries, The Year of the Jouncer, The Last Cigarette and Coda. The dramatisation of his Diaries, The Last Cigarette, co-authored with Hugh Whitemore and directed by Richard Eyre, played in the West End in Spring/Summer 2009. In 1990 Simon Gray was awarded the BAFTA Writer's Award. He was appointed CBE in the 2005 New Year's Honours for his services to Drama and Literature. He died on August 7th 2008. www.simongray.org.uk

Moisés Kaufman (Director). Broadway: Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (director), 33 Variations (writer & director; Tony nomination Best Play, Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award); I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright, (Obie Award, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel nominations). West End: Gross Indecency (writer & director, Gielgud Theatre), I Am My Own Wife (Duke of York Theater), This Is How It Goes by Neil LaBute (Donmar Warehouse). Off-Broadway/Regional: One Arm (Tectonic Theater Project/The New Group); Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Kirk Douglas Theater, Mark Taper Forum); The Laramie Project (writer and director; Theater In The Square, Drama Desk nomination); The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later (writer & director; Alice Tully Hall); Gross Indecency: The Three Trials Of Oscar Wilde (writer & director; Lucille Lortell Award for Best Play, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Play and the Joe A. Callaway Award for Direction); Macbeth with Liev Schreiber (Delacorte Theater); One Arm by Tennessee Williams (Steppenwolf Theater Company); Master Class with Rita Moreno (Berkeley Repertory Theater); El Gato Con Botas (New Victory Theater); Film/TV: "The Laramie Project" (HBO, 2 Emmy nominations for writing & directing, Opening Night Selection at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, National Board of Review Award, the Humanitas Prize, Special Mention the Berlin Film Festival); "The L Word." He is the Artistic Director of Tectonic Theater Project and a Guggenheim Fellow in Playwriting.

Roundabout Theatre Company is a not-for-profit theatre dedicated to providing a nurturing artistic home for theatre artists at all stages of their careers where the widest possible audience can experience their work at affordable prices. Roundabout fulfills its mission each season through the revival of classic plays and musicals; development and production of new works by established playwrights and emerging
writers; educational initiatives that enrich the lives of children and adults; and a subscription model and audience outreach programs that cultivate loyal audiences.

Roundabout Theatre Company currently produces at three permanent homes each of which is designed specifically to enhance the needs of the Roundabout's mission. Off-Broadway, the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, which houses the Laura Pels Theatre and Black Box Theatre, with its simple sophisticated design is perfectly suited to showcasing new plays. The grandeur of its Broadway home on 42nd Street, American Airlines Theatre, sets the ideal stage for the classics. Roundabout's Studio 54 provides an exciting and intimate Broadway venue for its musical and special event productions. Together these three distinctive venues serve to enhance the work on each of its stages.

American Airlines is the official airline of Roundabout Theatre Company. Roundabout productions are made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Roundabout Theatre Company's 2011-2012 season features Stephen Karam's Sons of the Prophet, directed by Peter DuBois; Andrew Hinderaker's Suicide, Incorporated, directed by Jonathan Berry; Athol Fugard's The Road To Mecca starring RoseMary Harris, Carla Gugino & Jim Dale, directed by Gordon Edelstein; John Osborne's Look Back in Anger, directed by Sam Gold; Marc Camoletti's Don't Dress For Dinner adapted by Robin Hawdon, directed by John Tillinger; Mary Chase's Harvey starring Jim Parsons, Jessica Hecht & Charles Kimbrough, directed by Scott Ellis. Roundabout's Tony Award winning production of Anything Goes starring Sutton Foster & Joel Grey, directed & choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, is currently playing at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. The 2011 Tony® Award winning Anything Goes will set sail on a National Tour at Cleveland's Playhouse Square in October 2012. Following its opening in Cleveland, Anything Goes will cruise into more than 25 other cities during the 2012/2013 season.

www.roundabouttheatre.org