Vineyard Theatre and Naked Angels Present OUTSIDE PEOPLE, Opening January 2012

The Vineyard Theatre in collaboration with Naked Angels will co-produce the world-premiere of Zayd Dohrn's play OUTSIDE PEOPLE, directed by Evan Cabnet at The Vineyard (108 East 15th Street), with previews expected to begin late December prior to an official opening in early January 2012, it has been announced by Douglas Aibel, Artistic Director of Vineyard Theatre and Sarah Stern, The Vineyard's Co-Artistic Director.

Set in modern-day Beijing, OUTSIDE PEOPLE Zayd Dohrn's darkly comic new play is the story of a young American man, Malcolm, who falls in love with a young Chinese woman, Xiao Mei. But as his eyes open to the subtle social, political and economic forces that inform their relationship, he must confront his complex place in this foreign culture, the friendship that brought him there, and his own deepest fears and desires.

Cast and design team for OUTSIDE PEOPLE is TBA.

OUTSIDE PEOPLE will be the second Vineyard Theatre production of the 2011-2012 theatre season, following the new Nicky Silver play THE LYONS, starring Tony Award winners Linda Lavin and Dick Latessa, directed by Mark Brokaw, in previews now before opening October 11 at The Vineyard.

Zayd Dohrn is a playwright and screenwriter living in New York City. His plays --including SICK, MAGIC FOREST FARM and REBORNING -- have been produced and developed across the country, including at Manhattan Theatre Club, Berkshire Theatre Festival, MCC, Marin Theatre Company, The Public (SPF), Naked Angels, South Coast Rep, The Vineyard, Southern Rep, Kitchen Dog, The Lark, New York Theatre Workshop, and San Francisco Playhouse. He earned his MFA from NYU and was a Lila Acheson Wallace Fellow at Juilliard. He received Lincoln Center's Lecomte du Nouy Prize, Theatre Masters' Visionary Playwrights Award, the Kennedy Center's Jean Kennedy Smith Award, and the Sky Cooper New American Play Prize, as well as residencies and/or commissions from Ars Nova, Alchemy Theatre, Dallas Theatre Center, The Stella Adler Studio, and the Royal Court Theatre of London. He is currently writing screenplays for American Film Company and Vox3 Films, a television series for HBO, and is a member of the WGA and the Dramatists Guild.

Evan Cabnet recently directed the world premiere of David West Read's THE DREAM OF THE BURNING BOY at the Roundabout Theatre Company (NY Times Critics' Pick; Drama League Nomination for Distinguished Production of a Play). Other NY credits include: Elizabeth Meriwether's OLIVER PARKER! (Cherry Lane, world premiere); Bekah Brunstetter's OOHRAH! (Atlantic Theatre Company, world premiere); Mark Schultz's THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE (stageFarm at the Rattlestick, world premiere); Elizabeth Meriwether's THE MISTAKES MADELINE MADE (Naked Angels, world premiere); and new plays by Adam Rapp, Schultz, and Meriwether at Cherry Lane Theatre. Regional credits include: Michele Lowe's MAP OF HEAVEN (Denver Center Theatre, world premiere), Donald Margulies' SHIPWRECKED! AN ENTERTAINMENT (Long Wharf Theater, East Coast premiere), and his own adaptations of UBU ROI and Salman Rushdie's HAROUND AND THE SEA OF STORIES (Williamstown Theatre Festival). Evan has also developed new works by: Laura Marks (Public Theatre), Lucy Kirkwood (Araca Group), Carly Mensch (Playwrights Horizons), Rajiv Joseph (Vineyard), Lucy Thurber (MCC), Annie Baker, Beau Willimon, Liz Flahive (all at Ars Nova) and many others.

One of the nation´s leading non-profit theatre companies dedicated to new plays and musicals and bold programming, The Vineyard has consistently premiered provocative, groundbreaking works including the Pulitzer Prize-winning productions of Edward Albee´s THREE TALL WOMEN and Paula Vogel´s HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE, Tarell Alvin McCraney´s WIG OUT!, The Civilians´ THIS BEAUTIFUL CITY, Nicky Silver´s PTERODACTYLS and RAISED IN CAPTIVITY, the Laura Nyro musical ELI´S COMIN´, A BOY AND HIS SOUL, written and performed by Colman Domingo, Adam Rapp´s THE METAL CHILDREN, Will Eno´s MIDDLETOWN and most recently Christopher Shinn's PICKED. Most recently the Vineyard concluded its Lab Production of NOW. HERE. THIS., the newest work from the creators and cast of [title of show] followed by a Lab Production of the Broadway-bound musical revival ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER. Other productions on The Vineyard's season are the world premiere of NOW. HERE. THIS. and a Lab Production of the new musical THE LANDING by John Kander and Gregory Pierce.

Vineyard Theatre is a recipient of the Tony Award for the musical AVENUE Q and continues as producer of the musical´s current production at New World Stages in New York. The Vineyard produced the world-premiere of the musical THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS -- with music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, book by David Thompson, with direction and choreography Susan Stroman - in March 2010 and on Broadway. The Vineyard also produced the musical [title of show] both off and on Broadway.

Since 1986, Naked Angels has been committed to strengthening a community of artists through the development and production of provocative new work. The company has played a role in developing critically acclaimed new plays including Jon Robin Baitz's THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE and Warren Leight's SIDE MAN, and producing the world premieres of Stephen Belber's TAPE and FAULT LINES, Elizabeth Meriwether's THE MISTAKES MADELINE MADE, the U.S. premiere of Chloe Moss' THIS WIDE NIGHT and, most recently, Geoffrey Nauffts' Tony Award-nominated play NEXT FALL. From New York to LA, the company inspires artists to generate fresh voices to generate new work through its popular Tuesdays@9 (cold readings of plays, screenplays, stories and music in early development), 1st Mondays (public readings of new full-length plays), and Angels in Progress (weeklong workshops). The company's newest venture, Naked Radio, brings the work of talented new writers from the stage to the digital airwaves through weekly blogs and podcasts.

Mr. Aibel is Artistic Director of Vineyard Theatre; Sarah Stern is Co-Artistic Director; Jennifer Garvey-Blackwell is Executive Producer and Rebecca Habel is Managing Director.

For more information about Vineyard Theatre, call 212 353 3366 or visit www.vineyardtheatre.org.