Nicholson and Waterston Star In PARENTS' EVENING, Previews 4/17

The Flea Theater presents the World Premiere of PARENTS' EVENING, a two-hander by Bathsheba Doran. Directed by Flea Artistic Director Jim Simpson, the production stars JuliAnne Nicholson (Law & Order: Criminal Intent) and James Waterston (A.R. Gurney's Buffalo Gal). Previews for this limited run Off-Broadway engagement begin April 17 with opening night slated for Thursday, April 29.

A married couple prepare with dread for the annual PARENTS' EVENING at their daughter's school. Doran's play examines the land mines of modern marriage and parenting.

According to director Jim Simpson, "PARENTS' EVENING is an extraordinary play about modern married life - particularly the working woman's struggle to be mother, lover, breadwinner and wife -
to be it all and to have it all. The play is a striking look at the way we live now. Bathsheba is a powerful new voice - and I'm very pleased to be taking this wonderful play on."

The design team includes Jerad Schomer (sets), Brian Aldous (lights) and Claudia Brown (costumes).

JuliAnne Nicholson was most recently seen in THIS at Playwrights' Horizon and is perhaps best known for her starring role on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" opposite Jeff Goldblum. She made her New York stage debut in Craig Lucas' Stranger at The Vineyard in 2000 and also appeared in Jez Butterworth's Parlour Song at The Atlantic. In film, Nicholson recently starred in "Staten Island" opposite Ethan Hawke and John Krasinski's "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men," and can be seen
in the upcoming "In Praise of Shadows" opposite James Franco. Other film credits include "Flannel Pajamas", "Tully", "Seeing Other People", "Kinsey", "Little Black Book", "One True Thing", "Long Time Since" and "The Love Letter".

James Waterston has recently been seen in The Importance of Being Earnest at BAM, Orlando in As You Like It at the New York Shakespeare Festival, A.R. Gurney's Buffalo Gal at Primary Stages, and Brooke Berman's A Perfect Couple. At The Flea, Waterston was seen in Roger Rosenblatt's Ashley Montana Goes Ashore in the Caicos. Some of his film and TV credits include "The Good Wife" (CBS), "Six Feet Under" (HBO, recurring), "ER" and "Dead Poets Society". He will also play Brutus in the upcoming French tour of Julius Caesar.

Bathsheba Doran's plays include Ben and The Magic Paintbrush (which will receive its world premiere at South Coast Repertory Theater in June 2010), Living Room in Africa (produced Off-Broadway by Edge Theater), Nest (commissioned and produced by Signature Theater in DC),
Until Morning (BBC Radio 4) and adaptations of Dickens' Great Expectations (starring Kathleen Chalfant at The Lucille Lortel), Maeterlinck's The Blind (Classic Stage Company), and Peer Gynt
(directed by Andre Serban at the Theater of the Riverside Church). She is a 2009 recipient of the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award and three Lecomte du Nouy Lincoln Center playwriting awards. She is a Cherry Lane Mentor Project Fellow as and a Susan Blackburn Award finalist. Ms. Doran's work has been developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, O'Neill Theatre Center, Lincoln Center, Sundance Theater Lab, Almeida Theatre (London), and Playwrights Horizons among others. She is currently
under commission from Atlantic Theater, Playwrights Horizons and Schtanhaus (London). Her work is available from Samuel French and Playscripts Inc.

The Flea Theater, under Artistic Director Jim Simpson and Producing Director Carol Ostrow, is one of New York's leading off-off-Broadway companies. Winner of a Special Drama Desk Award for outstanding achievement, Obie Awards and an Otto for political theater, The Flea has presented nearly 100 plays and numerous dance and live music performances since its inception in 1996. Past productions include the premieres of Anne Nelson's The Guys; five plays by A.R. Gurney (Post
Mortem, O Jerusalem, Screenplay, Mrs. Farnsworth and A Light Lunch); Mac Wellman's Cellophane and Two September; Roger Rosenblatt's Ashley Montana Goes Ashore... and The Oldsmobiles; Elizabeth Swados' JABU and Kaspar Hauser; Karen Finley's Return of the Chocolate Smeared Woman; Adam Rapp's Bingo with the Indians; Will Eno's Oh, The Humanity and other exclamations; Dawn by Thomas Bradshaw; The Great Recession and currently, Girls in Trouble.

PARENTS' EVENING runs April 17 - May 29, Tuesday - Friday at 8pm and Saturday at 3pm and 8pm with additional Monday shows at 8pm on April 3,10 & 24. The Flea is located at 41 White Street between Church and Broadway, three blocks south of Canal, close to the A/C/E, N/R/Q/W, 6, J/M/Z and 1 subway lines. Tickets are $35 weekdays and Saturday matinee, $40 Friday and Saturday evenings. For tickets call 212-352-3101 or visit www.theflea.org.