Soho Rep.'s 2017 Projects to Play The Public and A.R.T./New York

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Sarah Benson and Executive Director Cynthia Flowers, Soho Rep. has continually produced work by bold artists who harness the power of intimate spaces to create transformative experiences. Soho Rep. has announced venues for the remainder of its 2016-17 season, which includes a world premiere Soho Rep. commission by Richard Maxwell along with a workshop presentation of a new play by Jackie Sibblies Drury.

Soho Rep.'s workshop presentation of Drury's new play, a co-commission with Berkeley Repertory Theatre and developed with support from The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep., will take place at The Public Theater on Friday, January 27 at 3pm and Friday, February 3 at 3pm. The world premiere of Maxwell's Samara, a Soho Rep. commission, will take place at the Mezzanine Theatre at the A.R.T./New York Theatres from April 4-May 7 with an opening set for April 16.

Soho Rep. Artistic Director Benson said, "In the midst of our acute space challenge one of the joys we have experienced is the outpouring of love, support and camaraderie from our colleagues. We are so grateful to everyone who has come forward to help us through this and are delighted to have secured space for this season. I adore The Public and we are so thankful for their wonderful help in hosting us for Jackie's workshop this winter. We are also very excited to be at the brand new the Mezzanine Theatre at the A.R.T./New York Theatres for Richard's play."

The Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis said, "Under Sarah Benson's inspired leadership, Soho Rep. has become one of the shining stars of the New York Theater community, producing work as distinguished for its bold experimentation as it is by seriousness of intent. We are proud to be part of Soho Rep.'s community, and happy to support them in every way we can."

Tickets to both projects can be purchased by visiting sohorep.org or calling 212.352.3101.

Soho Rep. continues its search for a permanent home in New York City.

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PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Soho Rep. presents
a Studio Workshop
of an untitled new play
co-commissioned by Soho Rep. and Berkeley Repertory Theatre
by Jackie Sibblies Drury
directed by Sarah Benson

Featuring Quincy Tyler Bernstine, April Matthis, Mirirai Sithole, and Tanya Selvaratnam

January 27 and February 3 at 3pm
The Public Theater (425 Lafayette Street, Manhattan)
Tickets: FREE and open to the public. Reservations required.
sohorep.org or (212) 352-3101

After a weeklong Studio workshop, audiences will be invited to open rehearsals, directed by Soho Rep. Artistic Director Sarah Benson, of a new play by award winning playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury. This new play, which has been co-commissioned by Soho Rep. and Berkeley Repertory Theatre, is inspired by the relationship between care, attention, secrecy, and surveillance.

Jackie Sibblies Drury is a Brooklyn-based playwright. Her plays include We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915 at Soho Rep., Really, Social Creatures and And now I only dance at weddings. The presenters of her plays include Victory Gardens, Trinity Rep, Matrix Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, Undermain Theatre, InterAct Theatre, Actors Theater of Louisville, Available Light, Company One, and The Bush Theatre in London. Sibblies Drury hasdeveloped her work at Sundance, The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, A.C.T., The Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, New York Theatre Workshop, PRELUDE.11&14, The Civilians, The Bushwick Starr, The LARK, The Magic Theatre, The Bay Area Playwrights Festival and The MacDowell Colony. She was a dramaturg for Zero Cost House by Pig Iron Theatre Company & Toshiki Okada and The Garden by Nichole Canuso Dance Company. She received the 2012-2013 Van Lier Fellowship at New Dramatists and was the inaugural recipient of the 2012-2014 Jerome Fellowship at The LARK. She is a NYTW Usual Suspect and is currently a member of The Writer's Room at Manhattan Theatre Club and Ars Nova.

Soho Rep., in association with John Adrian Selzer, presents
Samara (world premiere Soho Rep. commission)
by Richard Maxwell
directed by Sarah Benson

with original music by Steve Earle
featuring Becca Blackwell, Vinie Burrows, Steve Earle, Roy Faudree, Modesto Flako Jimenez, Paul Lazar, and more

April 4 - May 7
Opening: April 16
the Mezzanine Theatre at the A.R.T./New York Theatres
Tickets: $35 general admission tickets, $65 premium seats through April 30; $45 and $65 May 2-7.
$.99 Sundays: April 9, 23
sohorep.org or (212) 352-3101

In a departure, Richard Maxwell, who nearly always also directs his own plays, is handing over the directorial duties to Soho Rep. Artistic Director Sarah Benson. Samara features original music by the legendary Steve Earle, who will also perform in the piece. Joining Earle in the cast are Becca Blackwell, Vinie Burrows, Roy Faudree, Modesto Flako Jimenez, and Paul Lazar. Maxwell's work was seen previously at Soho Rep. in 2001 with Cavemen and in 1999 with Cowboys and Indians.

On the fringes of the frontier, a messenger embarks on an arduous journey to collect a debt from a man he's never met. Friends set out to atone for a mistake that can't be undone. Strangers look for a little bit of comfort wherever they can find it.

A spiritual and visceral celebration about whatever it is we call home.

Richard Maxwell is a playwright, director and the artistic director of New York City Players. He studied acting at Illinois State University and then became a co-founder of the Cook County Theater Department. He is a Doris Duke Performing Artist. Maxwell has been selected for a Guggenheim Fellowship, two OBIE Awards, a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grant, and was included in the Whitney Biennial. His latest play, The Evening, which premiered in 2015 was a commission by the 2014 Spalding Gray Award. He directed Jackie Sibblies Drury's play, Really, for New York City Players in March 2016. His latest book, Theater for Beginners, was published by Theatre Communications Group.

Sarah Benson has been Artistic Director of Soho Rep. since 2007. Her directing credits for Soho Rep. include César Alvarez and The Lisps's Futurity, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's An Octoroon, (Soho Rep. & Theater for a New Audience); Lucas Hnath's A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay about the Death of Walt Disney; David Adjmi's Elective Affinities, and Sarah Kane's Blasted. She has also directed at A.R.T., Woolly Mammoth & M.T.C.. She holds a MFA from Brooklyn College. In 2016, Benson was awarded a Vilcek Foundation Prize for Creative Promise.

A protégé of legendary songwriters Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, Steve Earle is one of today's master musical storytellers, whose songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, Travis Tritt, The Pretenders, Joan Baez and countless others. Throughout his more than 30-year career, Earle has mined the veins of American roots music: country rock and roll, folk and rockabilly. His debut record, Guitar Town, shot to No. 1 on the country charts, and his Grammy Award-winning albums include The Revolution Starts...Now, Washington Square Serenade and Townes. He is host of "The Steve Earle Show: Hardcore Troubadour" Radio, on Sirius XM Radio.

On June 10, 2016, his collaborative album with Shawn Colvin, Colvin & Earle, was released on Fantasy Records. Colvin & Earle, produced by Buddy Miller, reveals a truly creative partnership between these friends who first met nearly three decades ago. His debut novel, I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive, was published in 2011, and a second novel and a memoir are forthcoming. Earle is also recognized as an actor from his roles on HBO's "The Wire" and "Treme," both created by David Simon.

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Soho Rep. is a leading hub for innovative contemporary theater in New York City. We are dedicated to artistic excellence by supporting distinctive, diverse, and pioneering theater. We empower artists to make their boldest work and invite audiences to share in that intimate and transformative live experience. Soho Rep. creates a dynamic context for both artists and audiences that promotes and sustains conversation in the field and the cultural fabric of the city.

Soho Rep. is a very big, small theater. We have six full-time staff members, and our annual budget is $1.6M. At the same time, our outstanding reputation and recent accomplishments far exceed the size of our company.

Soho Rep. was honored with a 2014 Drama Desk Award for Sustained Achievement citing "nearly four decades of artistic distinction, innovative production, and provocative play selection," and we were named The Village Voice's 2015 Best Off Broadway Theater. Our productions have been recognized with 18 OBIE Awards; the 2016 Lucile Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical for César Alvarez and The Lisps' FUTURITY; nine Drama Desk nominations; two Kesselring Awards; and The New York Times Outstanding Playwriting Award for Dan LeFranc's Sixty Miles to Silverlake. In 2016, Artistic Director Sarah Benson was also named one of three recipients of the prestigious Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Theatre.

Many of our most acclaimed productions have been Soho Rep. commissions, were generated in the Writer/ Director Lab, and/ or developed in weeklong Studio workshops. They include: Annie Baker's Uncle Vanya, David Adjmi's Marie Antoinette, Anne Washburn's 10 out of 12, and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' An Octoroon, which transferred to Theatre for A New Audience's 299-seat space in 2015.

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