Penguin Rep Presents NY Premiere of 'Fall to Earth'

  Michele Pawk and Laura Heisler (pictured) portray a mother and daughter with a troubled history in "The Fall to Earth," a drama by Joel Drake Johnson that is having its New York premiere at Penguin Repertory Company in Stony Point, N.Y., through July 20.

"The Fall to Earth" is directed by Joe Brancato, artistic director of Penguin Rep. Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with matinees at 4 p.m. on Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Penguin Rep's theater in Stony Point is located about 30 miles north of Manhattan, off Exit 15 of the Palisades Parkway.

In the thought-provoking "Fall to Earth," Pawk plays Fay, a woman who has been estranged from her adult daughter and son. After the son's death, mother and daughter travel together to an unfamiliar town, where they learn the circumstances of his death (and life) and deal with the pain and resentment in their own relationship.

Pawk won a 2003 Tony Award for "Hollywood Arms." Her recent Broadway and off-Broadway appearances include "Mamma Mia," "Hairspray," "Losing Louie," "The Paris Letter" and Transport Group's "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs." Heisler was seen last year at Playwrights Horizons in "Doris to Darlene: A Cautionary Valentine" and in "BFF" at the DR2 and "Coram Boy" on Broadway.

Amelia Campbell completes the cast of "The Fall to Earth." Campbell was nominated for a Tony in 1991 for "Our Country's Good" and costarred in the 2006 off-Broadway production of "Tryst," directed by Joe Brancato.

Author Joel Drake Johnson is a resident playwright at Chicago's Victory Gardens Theater. "The Fall to Earth" was first produced in 2004 by Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago; Rondi Reed, who just won a Tony for "August: Osage County," received a Jeff Award for her performance as Fay.

Tickets for "The Fall to Earth" cost $32; for theatergoers 30 and under, just $16. Running time is 95 minutes. Call 845-786-2673 or visit www.penguinrep.org for further information.

Last fall Penguin co-produced "The Goldman Project" at Abingdon Theatre in Manhattan. For BroadwayWorld's profile of the company during that run, click HERE.