World Premiere of 3C Opens at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Tonight, 6/21

piece by piece productions, Rising Phoenix Repertory, and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater have announced that the world premiere of 3C, written by David Adjmi and directed by Jackson Gay, opens tonight Thursday, June 21 at 7pm at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place.

The war in Vietnam is over and Brad, an ex-serviceman, lands in L.A. to start a new life. When he winds up trashed in Connie and Linda’s kitchen after a wild night of partying, the three strike a deal for an arrangement that has hilarious and devastating consequences for everyone. Or are they non-consequences? Inspired by 1970s sitcoms, 1950s existentialist comedy, Chekhov, and Disco anthems, 3C is a terrifying yet amusing look at a culture that likes to amuse itself, even as it teeters on the brink of ruin.

The cast of 3C is Kate Buddeke (Bug, Gypsy with Bernadette Peters, Death of a Salesman with Brian Dennehy), Bill Buell (Equus, The History Boys, Picasso at the Lapin Agile), Hannah Cabell (A Man for All Seasons at Roundabout, Compulsion at Public Theater), Eddie Cahill (“CSI: New York,” “Friends”), Anna Chlumsky (HBO’s “Veep,” My Girl, Unconditional at Public Theater/LAByrinth), and Jake Silbermann (“As the World Turns”).

The scenic design for 3C is by John McDermott; the costume design is by Oana Botez Ban; the lighting design is by Tyler Micoleau; the sound design is by Matt Tierney. Choreography is by Deney Terrio.

3C brings together the three companies who produced the 2009 hit Slipping, written by Daniel Talbott, and joins together piece by piece productions and Rising Phoenix Repertory who last collaborated on David Adjmi’s hit play Elective Affinities.

After performance talkbacks have been announced for Friday, June 22 with choreographer Deney Terrio and members of the company; and for Wednesday, June 27 with Leslie Savan (media and politics blogger for The Nation) and director Jackson Gay on media and cultural perspectives related to 3C.

David Adjmi has been awarded a 2011 Guggenheim Fellowship, the Whiting Writers’ Award, the Kesselring Prize for Drama, the Steinberg Playwright Award (the “Mimi”), and the Bush Artists Fellowship. His most recent play, the acclaimed Elective Affinities, premiered at the Royal Shakespeare Company and received its New York premiere in 2011 in a coproduction between piece by piece productions, Rising Phoenix Repertory, and Soho Rep that starred Zoe Caldwell.

His hit play Stunning was developed at New York Theatre Workshop and MTC; was published in the September 2008 issue of American Theatre; and premiered at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, where it was nominated for five Helen Hayes Awards including the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play. It was subsequently produced at Lincoln Center Theatre’s LCT3 in July 2009 (Time Out New York Top 10 of the year). TCG recently published a collection of his work entitled Stunning and Other Plays and he is currently at work on an as-yet-untitled memoir for HarperCollins.

His play Marie Antoinette, which was developed at Sundance, the Public, and the Goodman Theatre, will receive a world premiere co-production between Yale Rep and A.R.T./Harvard in 2012 (dir. Rebecca Taichman). 3C was developed at Playwrights Horizons/Clubbed Thumb. The Evildoers was developed at The Royal Court Theatre (UK), and the Sundance Theatre Lab; it premiered at Yale Repertory Theatre (Hartford Courant and New Haven Advocate Top 10 of 2008). Other plays include Caligula (Soho Rep Studio Series), Strange Attractors (Empty Space) and Woody Allen’s Fall Project. David is currently under commission by Lincoln Center Theatre, Berkeley Rep, and the Royal Court. He is the recipient of the Helen Merrill Emerging Playwrights Award, a McKnight Advancement Grant, the Marian Seldes-Garson Kanin Award, a Jerome Fellowship, a Royal Court International Residency, Jon Robin Baitz’s Ovid Grant for New Writing, a NYTW/Dartmouth Residency, the Lecomte du Nouy Award, the Cherry Lane Mentor Project Fellowship (w. Craig Lucas), an Atlantic Center for the Arts residency (w. Paula Vogel), a Minnesota State Arts Board grant, and multiple fellowships from The MacDowell Colony. David has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, The Mellon Foundation, The Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the McKnight Foundation. He has taught workshops and classes at the Yale School of Drama, Southampton Writers Conference, University of Rochester, Iowa Playwrights Workshop, and the Primary Stages School of Theatre. David is a member of New Dramatists, MCC Playwrights Coalition, and Rising Phoenix Rep. He is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, the Iowa Playwrights Workshop, and the Juilliard School.

piece by piece productions is a not for profit producing organization that was started in 1999 by Wendy vanden Heuvel. Its mission is to produce film and theatre that is socially, politically, and spiritually relevant to our times. piece by piece supports the development of theatre/film artists and their original work through workshops, readings, and the productions of new plays/documentaries.

Founded in 1999 by Artistic Director Daniel Talbott, New York Innovative Theater Award winning company Rising Phoenix Repertory began by producing an ongoing reading series of new plays and has continued to add workshops, festivals, and highly praised productions of new plays. Recent productions include the acclaimed, sold-out Off-Broadway runs of Slipping, produced with piece by piece Productions and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, and Too Much Memory (also with piece by piece Productions) which transferred to the New York Theatre Workshop’s Fourth Street Theatre after winning the FringeNYC award for Outstanding Play in 2008. Inspired by Joe Cino and his Caffe Cino—one of the original birthplaces of Off-Off-Broadway theatre and early home to such writers as Doric Wilson, John Guare, Sam Shepard, and Lanford Wilson, the company has commissioned playwrights to write new, full-length plays to be fully produced in one week at the Seventh Street Small Stage in a year and a half long series running through June 2012. For more information visit www.RisingPhoenixRep.org.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater is a multi-award-winning organization and recipient of the 2007 Ross Wetzsteon Memorial OBIE Award, recognizing Rattlestick for their work and mission: developing and producing innovative new plays. Rattlestick has produced over forty-five world premieres in the past fifteen years. Now in their 16th Season, Rattlestick has introduced new writers and received critical acclaim for its innovative work. Rattlestick’s Advisory Board participates in The Emerging Playwrights Project, which matches a new playwright with an established artist for an experienced eye and creative support. Playwright and artist mentors have included Edward Albee, Jon Robin Baitz, Zoe Caldwell, Arthur Kopit, Craig Lucas, Joe Mantello, Terrence McNally, Marsha Norman and Adam Rapp.

3C plays Monday through Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 2pm and 7pm through Saturday, July 14. There will be no performance on Wednesday, July 4. Tickets are $55 and may be purchased by visiting www.ticketcentral.com; by phoning 212-279-4200; or in person at 416 West 42 Street. Box office hours are Monday through Sunday 12pm-8pm. For more information about 3C, visit www.3Ctheplay.com.

Photo credit: Jennifer Broski