Roundabout to Present Levensons 'Language Of Trees', Begins October 3

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) presents The Language of Trees, a new play by Steven Levenson, directed by Alex Timbers.

The Language of Trees is the second production of Roundabout Underground, an initiative launched in 2007 to introduce and cultivate artists in Roundabout's 62-seat Black Box Theatre, at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre (111 West 46th Street, NYC, NY, 10036).  All tickets for Roundabout Underground productions are $20. The inaugural production of Roundabout Underground was a sold-out run of Stephen Karam's acclaimed play Speech & Debate, which extended twice.

The Language of Trees will begin previews performances on Friday, October 3rd and will officially open on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008. This will be a limited engagement.

When an American translator is sent into a U.S. war zone in the Middle East, a friendly neighbor volunteers to help out his wife and young son. As events abroad spiral out of control, the lives of all the characters are turned upside down. The Language of Trees is a boldly theatrical and provocative new play about the fragility of language, the ecology of war and the meaning of neighborliness in an age of terror. 

Roundabout Underground is an initiative to showcase new plays that will either allow an experienced director to go back to his/her creative roots or give a debut production to an emerging writer or director.    Robyn Goodman (Artistic Consultant to the Roundabout), who has significant artistic development experience, is curating the initiative that will be a creative breeding ground for nurturing new talent.

The 62-seat Black Box Theatre, below the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre allows Roundabout to take artistic risks that are better suited for a more intimate space.   

STEVEN LEVENSON (Playwright).  Steven Levenson's plays include The Language of Trees, Girl's Day, and Almost Stuck. His work has been seen and developed by Roundabout Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New Dramatists, Brown/Trinity Playwrights Repertory Theatre, and Ashland New Plays Festival. Steven is a member of Youngblood Playwrights Group at EST and Play Group at Ars Nova. He is a graduate of Brown University.

ALEX TIMBERS (Director).  Alex Timbers is an OBIE Award-winning director and Artistic Director of Les Freres Corbusier. Recent Directing credits include: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Center Theatre Group, LA; co-written with Michael Friedman), Gutenberg! The Musical! (Drama Desk nom.- Best Director of a Musical), Hell House (Drama Desk nom.- Unique Theatrical Experience; St. Ann's Warehouse), underground (BAM; International Tour), A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant (OBIE Award, New York Theatre Workshop; two Garland Awards including Best Director, Los Angeles), Boozy (also writer; "Ten Best of 2005" by the New York Daily News and Time Out New York), Boom and Dixie's Tupperware Party (both at Ars Nova), Heddatron. Workshops: Disney Theatricals, Playwrights Horizons, New York Stage and Film, Sh-K-Boom Records. Directing Fellowships: Williamstown, Drama League, Sundance. Alex is currently directing Beyond Therapy for Williamstown Theatre Festival and Bay Street Theatre, as well as developing an original half-hour comedy pilot for 20th Century Fox.

Tickets will be available in August 2008 by calling Roundabout Ticket Services at (212)719-1300, online at www.roundabouttheatre.org or at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre box office (111 West 46 Street).  The ticket price is $20.00 for all seats. All tickets for The Language of Trees will be issued as General Admission passes for first-come, first-served seating on the show date.

The Language of Trees will play Tuesday through Sunday evenings at 7:00PM with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 1:30PM.  

The Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre opened on March 17th, 2004 allowing Roundabout to continue its mission to produce new plays by established writers and lesser-known classic plays in the 425-seat Laura Pels Theatre.  The inaugural production at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre was Intimate Apparel, a new play by Lynn Nottage, directed by Daniel Sullivan (2004 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award Best Play, Outer Critics Circle Award Best Play, Outer Critics Circle Award John Gassner Award Best Play, PEN/Laura Pels Foundation Award for Lynn Nottage, American Theatre Critic's Association's Francesca Primus Award Best Play, Steinberg New Play Award, Audelco Dramatic Production of the Year).  Prior to the launch of Roundabout Underground in October 2007, the 62-seat Black Box Theatre has been used by Roundabout's education department for its activities including student productions and professional development workshops.   

Lead support for Roundabout's new play fund generously provided by: The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Jodi and Daniel Glucksman, The Laura Pels Foundation, Laura S. Rodgers, Stephen and Ruth Hendel, and The Barbara Bell Cumming Foundation.

Roundabout Theatre Company is one of the country's leading not-for-profit theatres.  The company contributes invaluably to New York's cultural life by staging the highest quality revivals of classic plays and musicals as well as new plays by established writers. Roundabout consistently partners great artists with great works to bring a fresh and exciting interpretation that makes each production relevant and important to today's audiences.  

Roundabout Theatre Company currently produces at three permanent homes each of which is designed specifically to enhance the needs of the Roundabout's mission.  The off Broadway Theatre Center, Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, which houses the Laura Pels Theatre and Black Box Theatre, with its simple sophisticated design is perfectly suited to showcasing new plays.  The grandeur of its Broadway home on 42nd Street, American Airlines Theatre, sets the ideal stage for the classics.  Roundabout's Studio 54 provides an exciting and intimate Broadway venue for its musical and special event productions.  Together these three distinctive venues serve to enhance the work on each of its stages.

Roundabout Theatre Company productions are made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; New York State Council on the Arts; National Endowment for the Arts; and New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. American Airlines is the official airline of Roundabout Theatre Company. The Westin Hotel is the official hotel of the Roundabout Theatre Company.

Productions playing during Roundabout's 2008 spring season include Stephen Sondheim & James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George starring Daniel Evans & Jenna Russell, directed by Sam Buntrock; Christopher Hampton's Les Liaisons Dangereuses starring Laura Linney & Ben Daniels, directed by Rufus Norris; Christopher Durang's The Marriage of Bette and Boo, directed by Walter Bobbie.  Roundabout's sold out production of The 39 Steps transferred to the Cort Theatre on April 29th, 2008.

Roundabout Theatre Company's upcoming 2008-2009 season will also include Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons, starring Frank Langella, directed by Doug Hughes; Rodgers & Hart's Pal Joey, directed by Joe Mantello; Bob Fosse's Dancin', directed by Graciela Daniele; David Rabe's Streamers, directed by Scott Ellis and Lisa Loomer's Distracted featuring Cynthia Nixon, directed by Mark Brokaw.  

Roundabout Theatre Company's critically acclaimed Broadway production of Reginald Rose's Twelve Angry Men has extended its multi-award winning touring production for a second year.  Directed by Tony-nominated director Scott Ellis (Curtains) and starring Richard Thomas as "Juror #8," Twelve Angry Men is appearing in numerous cities across the country in Spring 2008 including Hartford, Charlotte, Nashville and Toronto.

For more information please visit www.roundabouttheatre.org

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