Marin Ireland & More Set For Playwrights Horizons MAPLE AND VINE

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) announces complete casting for the New York premiere of MAPLE AND VINE, a new play by Jordan Harrison (Doris to Darlene at Playwrights Horizons, Amazons and Their Men, Kid-Simple). Directed by Obie Award winner Anne Kauffman (The Thugs, Stunning, Naked Angels' This Wide Night, Mr. Harrison's Act a Lady), the production will begin previews Saturday, November 19 at 8PM with an Opening Night set for Wednesday, December 7 at 7PM. The limited engagement will play through Friday, December 23 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

The cast will feature Tony Award nominee and Obie Award winner Marin Ireland (reasons to be pretty, After Miss Julie, In the Wake, Cyclone), Louis Ozawa Changchien (Year Zero at Second Stage, Predators), Trent Dawson (Broadway's The Herbal Bed), Pedro Pascal (Some Men, Old Comedy) and Jeanine Serralles (Stunning, The Misanthrope, The Black Eyed).

Katha (Ms. Ireland) and Ryu (Mr. Changchien) have become allergic to their 21st-century lives. After they meet a charismatic man from a community of 1950s re-enactors, they forsake cell phones and sushi for cigarettes and Tupperware parties. In this compulsively authentic world, Katha and Ryu are surprised by what their new neighbors - and they themselves - are willing to sacrifice for happiness.

MAPLE AND VINE will feature scenic design by Tony Award nominee Alexander Dodge, costume design by Ilona Somogyi, lighting design by David Weiner and sound design by Bray Poor. Production Stage Manager is William H. Lang.

The performance schedule for MAPLE AND VINE will be Tuesdays at 7PM, Wednesdays through Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 2:30 PM & 8PM and Sundays at 2:30 PM & 7:30 PM. There will be special Monday evening performances at 7PM on November 21, December 5 and December 19. Single tickets, $70, will go on sale to the general public the week of October 17 and may be purchased online via www.TicketCentral.com, by phone at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily), or in person at the Ticket Central Box Office, 416 West 42nd Street (between Ninth & Tenth Avenues).

Three special performances of MAPLE AND VINE will offer PLAYTIME!, the new program offering affordable, professional childcare while patrons see a show. PLAYTIME! is free to Playwrights Horizons subscribers and available to non-subscribers for a flat fee of $15 per child. PLAYTIME! care will be offered during the following three performances: Saturday evening, December 3 at 8PM; Sunday matinee, December 4 at 2:30 PM; and Sunday matinee, December 11 at 2:30 PM. After tickets for MAPLE AND VINE have been purchased (through Ticket Central), PLAYTIME! childcare reservations should be made in advance online at www.PlaytimeNYC.org. This program is supported by funds from the City of New York Theater Subdistrict Council, LDC and the City of New York, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Elroy and Terry Krumholz Foundation.

A ticketing initiative created as part of Playwrights Horizons' Arts Access program, LIVEforFIVE makes available $5 tickets for the first preview performance of each Playwrights Horizons production through a lottery via the company's website. The LIVEforFIVE lottery for MAPLE AND VINE will be for tickets to the first preview on Saturday, November 19 at 8PM. Details for the lottery are as follows: beginning Wednesday, November 9 at 10AM, theatergoers can enter the lottery by filling out an entry form at www.playwrightshorizons.org. Entries will be accepted until Monday, November 14 at 12 Noon. Winners of the lottery will be notified via email no later than 3PM on Monday, November 14 with instructions on how to book their $5 tickets. Unclaimed tickets will be offered via email starting at 12 Noon on Tuesday, November 15 on a first-come, first-served basis. One or two tickets may be purchased for $5 each. At least 50 tickets will be available for Mainstage shows via the lottery.

Reflecting Playwrights Horizons' ongoing commitment to making its productions more affordable to younger audiences, the theater company will offer HOTtix, $25 rush tickets, subject to availability, day of performance only, starting one hour before showtime to patrons aged 30 and under. Proof of age required. One ticket per person, per purchase. STUDENT RUSH, $15 rush tickets, subject to availability, day of performance only, starting one hour before curtain to full-time graduate and undergraduate students. One ticket per person, per purchase. Valid student ID required.
LIVEforFIVE, HOTtix and STUDENT RUSH are some of Playwrights Horizons' popular Arts Access initiatives, which allow the institution to reach out to those who may not be able to afford the cost of a full-price theater ticket. This program is supported, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Three brand-new subscription packages to Playwrights Horizons' 2011/2012 season are currently available: a 5-show Subscription package ($187.50, three Mainstage and two Peter Jay Sharp Theater Productions); FlexPass (4+ tickets, $45-50 per ticket); and Membership ($55 membership fee + one ticket at $40 or less for each show, as desired). In addition, the company continues to offer 30&Under Membership ($20 membership fee + one $20 ticket for each show, as desired); and Student Membership ($10 membership fee + one $10 ticket for each show, as desired). In addition to discounts on all season attractions, subscribers receive priority booking and seating, ticket exchange privileges, parking and dining discounts, and exclusive mailings of Playwrights Horizons Bulletins. Packages are available at www.ticketcentral.com.

Playwrights Horizons' season productions are generously supported in part by The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Playwrights Horizons is supported in part by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. In addition, Playwrights Horizons receives major support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Time Warner Inc., the Charina Endowment Fund and the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation.
Prior to MAPLE AND VINE at Playwrights Horizons will be MILK LIKE SUGAR, the New York premiere of a new play by Kirsten Greenidge, directed by Rebecca Taichman. MILK LIKE SUGAR is presented by Playwrights Horizons, Women's Project and La Jolla Playhouse.
Following both MILK LIKE SUGAR and MAPLE AND VINE, Playwrights Horizons' 2011/2012 Season will continue with ASSISTANCE, the New York premiere of a new play by Leslye Headland, directed by Trip Cullman; THE BIG MEAL, the New York premiere of a new play by Dan LeFranc, directed by Obie Award winner Sam Gold; and RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN, the World Premiere of a new play by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Obie Award winner Gina Gionfriddo, directed by Peter DuBois.

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.

BIOGRAPHIES
Jordan Harrison (Playwright) was last represented at Playwrights Horizons with his play Doris to Darlene. His other plays include Amazons and Their Men (Clubbed Thumb), Futura (Portland Center Stage), Act a Lady (2006 Humana Festival), Finn in the Underworld (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), Kid-Simple (2004 Humana Festival, SPF), The Museum Play and The Flea and the Professor (Arden Theatre Company). Maple and Vine premiered in the 2011 Humana Festival. In addition to Playwrights Horizons, next season it will be produced at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and Next Theatre in Chicago. Jordan is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University, the Kesselring Award, the Heideman Award, the Loewe Award for Musical Theater, Jerome and McKnight Fellowships from The Playwrights' Center and a NEA/TCG Playwright-in-Residence Grant. A graduate of the Brown University MFA program, he is a resident playwright at New Dramatists.

Anne Kauffman (Director) won an Obie Award for her work on The Thugs by Adam Bock (Soho Rep). She previously collaborated with Jordan Harrison on the World Premieres of Maple and Vine (Humana Festival, 2011), Act a Lady (Humana Festival, 2006) and The Flea and the Professor (Williamstown, 2011). Other New York credits include This Wide Night with Edie Falco and Alison Pill (Naked Angels), Stunning by David Adjmi (Lincoln Center Theater 3), Dan LeFranc's Sixty Miles to Silver Lake (Soho Rep/Page 73), God's Ear by Jenny Schwartz (Vineyard/New Georges), The Loyal Opposition by Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas (NYTW), Hang Ten by Karen Hartman (Women's Project), The Ladies by Anne Washburn (The Civilians), Dot (Clubbed Thumb) and Sides: The Fear Is Real (Culture Project). Regional work includes The Civilians' You Better Sit Down: tales from my parents' divorce (Williamstown), We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Yale Rep), Becky Shaw (Wilma Theater, Barrymore Awards for Best Production, Best Director), Six Degrees of Separation with Tim Daly and Margaret Colin (Williamstown), Communist Dracula Pageant (American Repertory Theater), Have You Seen Steve Steven (13P), Doubt (Asolo Repertory Theater) and Typographer's Dream (Encore Theater). Anne is a 2010 recipient of the Lilly Award in Direction and a 2010 recipient of the Alan Schneider Director Award. She is a Usual Suspect at NYTW, an alumnus of the Soho Rep Writers and Directors Lab, Lincoln Center Directors Lab, The Drama League of New York, a founding member of The Civilians and was a 2003-2004 New Dramatist Resident Director and a member of New Georges Kitchen Cabinet. Anne received her MFA in directing from UCSD.

Louis Ozawa Changchien (Ryu). Off-Broadway: Year One (Second Stage). Regional: Eurydice (Williamstown), Hamlet (Trinity Rep), Bring Love to My Doorstep (Guthrie). Film: Fair Game, Gigantic, Pretty to Think So, Tomorrow Arigato, Robot Stories, On the Q.T., Predators, the upcoming Indelible, Things I Don't Understand, Lefty Loosey Tighty Righty. TV: "Law & Order" "Heroes and Villains," "3 lbs," "Lights Out."
Trent Dawson (Dean) made his Broadway debut as Jack Lane in The Herbal Bed. His other theater credits include productions of As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, Altitude Sickness, The Revival, Beyond Therapy, The Homecoming and A Winter's Tale. Trent's television credits include "The Good Wife," "As the World Turns" and "Guiding Light."
Marin Ireland (Katha) earned Tony and Drama League nominations as well as Theatre World Award for her performance in reasons to be pretty. She also earned an Obie Award for her performance in Cyclone at Studio Dante. Her other New York stage credits include After Miss Julie on Broadway and the Off-Broadway productions of Three Sisters, In the Wake, Blasted and Bad Jazz. Regional work includes Mauritius (2006 Best Lead Actress Award, Independent Reviewers of New England). Ireland's television credits include "Law & Order: SVU," "The Good Wife" and "Homeland."

Pedro Pascal (Roger/Omar). Off-Broadway credits include Old Comedy, Some Men, Beauty of the Father and The Cartells. Regional credits include The Miracle at Naples, Ghosts and Orphans. Film credits include Adjustment Bureau, I Am That Girl and Burning Bridges. TV work includes "Law and Order: SVU," "The Good Wife," "Nurse Jackie" and "NYPD Blue."
Jeanine Serralles (Ellen/Jenna). Off-Broadway credits include Stunning, Hold Please (Drama Desk nomination), The Black Eyed (Drama League nomination), The Misanthrope (Drama League nomination) and The Glass Cage, Other New York credits include Not Enough Oxygen, Mayhem and The Jammer. Television credits include "Sex and the City," "The Good Wife" and "Guiding Light."
Playwrights Horizons 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. Under the leadership of artistic director Tim Sanford and managing director Leslie Marcus, the theater company continues to encourage the new work of veteran writers while nurturing an emerging generation of theater artists. In its 41 years, Playwrights Horizons has presented the work of more than 375 writers and has received numerous awards and honors, including a special 2008 Drama Desk Award for "ongoing support to generations of theater artists and undiminished commitment to producing new work." Notable productions include five Pulitzer Prize winners: Bruce Norris's Clybourne Park (2011 winner), 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 Annie Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation (three 2010 Obie Awards including Best New American Play), Bathsheba Doran's Kin, Adam Bock's A Small Fire, Edward Albee's Me, Myself & I, Melissa James Gibson's This (2010 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist), 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, Sarah Ruhl's Dead Man's Cell Phone, 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, Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's Assassins, 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, 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. www.PlaywrightsHorizons.org