Atlantic Premieres Works by Howe, Mamet, Etc. in '06-'07

The Atlantic Theater Company has announced its 2006-2007 main stage season, featuring premieres by Tina Howe, David Mamet, and Jez Butterworth.

In addition to those works, an additional Atlantic main stage production and the Atlantic Stage 2 season will be announced shortly.

The season will begin with the New York premiere of Birth and After Birth by Tina Howe (Coastal Disturbances, Painting Churches).  Christian Parker will direct the play, which will run from September 13th through October 29th.  It will open on October 2nd.

"Combining biting social comedy with a wild streak of the absurd, Birth and After Birth draws a fractured portrait of a contemporary family trying to hold it all together. Bill and Sandy Apple absolutely insist on upholding a perfect image of blissful family life with their rambunctious four-year-old, Nicky. Things soon go haywire, however, when Nicky's antic personality goes out of control on his birthday and the Apples' best friends, the childless Freeds, call into question the Apple's deeply held assumptions about child-rearing and fertility."

Next will be the New York premiere of a new adaptation of Harley Granville-Baker's classic The Voysey Inheritance, adapted by Atlantic Co-Founder David Mamet (Romance, Glengarry Glen Ross).  It will begin performances on November 15th, open on December 6th, and run through January 7th, 2007.

The new adaptation "explores the timely issue of morals vs. money as an upper middle class family goes to pieces when it is revealed that the patriarch has amassed the family fortune by secretly embezzling money from his clients.  As his son tries to put things in order, he discovers that the family is more than willing to perpetuate this way of doing business, rather than sacrifice their comfort and luxury."

The world premiere of Jez Butterworth's Parlour Song, directed by Neil Pepe, will begin performances on February 7th, open on February 28th and run through April 1st.

"British playwright Butterworth (Mojo, The Night Heron) takes on domestic paranoia in his inimitably sly and incisive style in Parlour Song, which explores what happens when two ordinary people discover they hate who they have become. In his first American world premiere production, Butterworth reveals a fascinating world where all is not what it seems, when a demolitions expert suspects his wife is stealing from him."

Co-founded by David Mamet and William H. Macy, Atlantic Theater Company is the award-winning Off-Broadway theater dedicated to producing great plays simply and truthfully by both emerging and established playwrights. Since its inception, Atlantic has produced more than one hundred plays, including this season's musical Spring Awakening, last season's world premiere of David Mamet's Romance, the Tony Award-winning production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh, Joe Penhall's Blue/Orange, Dublin Carol by Conor McPherson, The Cider House Rules, adapted by Peter Parnell, and Woody Allen's A Second Hand Memory and Writer's Block. Over the last two decades, Atlantic has garnered four Tony Awards, two Lucille Lortel Awards, seven Obie Awards, and an Outer Critics Circle Award.

For Atlantic season subscribers, each play is $25. Call (212) 645-1242 or visit www.atlantictheater.org for tickets and more information.