Sheedy, Graynor, & More Announced For Public Theater's Summer Play Festival 7/7-8/2

The Summer Play Festival (SPF) announces casting for the eagerly anticipated 2009 Festival in New York City. Casts include stage and screen actress Ally Sheedy; Ari Graynor, recently seen in NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLST; Maulik Pancholy, regular on the Showtime hit WEEDS and NBC's 30 ROCK; Katherine Waterston, who broke out in THE BABYSITTERS; Aya Cash, recently seen in Manhattan Theater Club's FROM UP HERE; and Eddie Kay Thomas, from the AMERICAN PIE movie series.

The 2009 Festival will feature seven new plays and one new musical:

The Chimes by Kevin Christopher Snipes, directed by Adam Immerwahr: Nick returns to his New England boarding school still haunted by choices he made 40 years ago. The past overwhelms the present as this thrilling drama flashes back to four young pranksters drawn together by their knack for Shakespeare and ripped apart by the onset of World War II. The cast includes: Elan Moss Bachrach (A Perfect Couple, "Gossip Girl"), Richard Bekins (Love! Valour! Compassion!, United 93), Brian C. Johnson (Spring Awakening), Graeme Malcolm (Equus, Translations), John O'Creagh (Paper Mill Playhouses 1776, The Field), Andy Phelan (Missing Celia Rose, Classic Stage Company's Richard III), Peter Van Wagner (David & Layla, Purple Violets), and Jeff Ward (Tisch School of the Arts Graduate).

Departure Lounge by Dougal Irvine, directed by Christopher Gattelli: It's the end of vacation as four guys wait for their flight home in this testosterone-driven new musical. With time to kill they recount the hilarious antics of the week, and as secrets tumble out we learn more about the lads than they know about themselves. The cast includes: Nick Blaemire (The Black Suits, Crybaby), Doug Kreeger (Rooms: a Rock Romance, Les Miserable), Kathleen Monteleone ("Grease-You're the One That I Want", 27 Dresses), Alex Tonetta (The History Boys), and Jonathan B. Wright (Spring Awakening).

The Happy Sad by Ken Urban, directed by Trip Cullman: Finding love is easy. Defining love is not. New York City provides the backdrop to a contemporary comedy of sex, love and dating in a city where there are too many options and not enough time. The cast includes: Christopher Abbott (Mouth to Mouth), Ari Graynor (Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, The Little Dog Laughed), Sue Jean Kim (The Drunken City, "Gossip Girl"), Maulik Pancholy ("Weeds", "30 Rock"), Peter Scanavino (subUrbia, Shining City), Heidi Schreck (The Internationalist, Drum of the Waves of Horikawa), and Eddie Kay Thomas (American Pie, "Till Death").

Reborning by Zayd Dohrn, directed by Kip Fagan: Art and life become disturbingly interchangeable when a sculptor of baby dolls meets a woman desperate to recreate the past. This dark comedy takes an unsettling look at work, latex, and the power of creation. The cast includes: Greg Keller (Classic Stage Company's The Seagull, Uncle Vanya), Ally Sheedy (The Breakfast Club, Hedwig and the Angry Inch), and Katherine Waterston (Good Dick, The Babysitters).

The Sacrifices by ALena Smith, directed by Sam Gold: At first glance the family has everything. But once they leave on a Caribbean cruise, the winds change, privilege becomes a prison, and their vacation will be anything but smooth sailing in this touching comedy drama. The cast includes: Gabe Ebert (Juilliard Graduate), Mimi Lieber (Brooklyn Boy, I'm Not Rappaport), Mackenzie Meehan (Tisch School of the Arts Graduate), and John Gould Rubin (co-creater of LAByrinth).

Tender by Nicki Bloom, directed by Daniella Topol: A random act of violence leaves a family shattered and searching for a way to be whole again. Amid the ramifications, mystery, memory and potential murder set the stage for this haunting and suspenseful drama. The cast includes: Betsy Aidem (Celebration, Bingo With The Indians), Kerry Bishé (Pygmalion, Sex in the City), Michael Cullen (Len, Asleep in Vinyl, Dark Matters) and Matt Dellapina (of The Civilians).

We Declare You A Terrorist by Tim J. Lord, directed by Niegel Smith: Eight hundred civilians are taken hostage during the performance of a hit Moscow musical. In the aftermath, the playwright is plagued by the story of his captor-a young woman willing to die for her cause-in an intense drama where one person's patriotism is another's act of terrorism. The cast includes: David Bishins (A Mother, a Daughter and a Gun, Sympathetic Magic), Keira Keeley (Green Girl, The Thugs), and Katie Sigismund (The Old Globes' Opus).

Whore by Rick Viede, directed by Stephen Brackett: Sara just wants to be interesting, and an unexpected one-night stand propels her into a high stakes relationship with worldly Tim. As they are drawn into the fringes this thriller exposes a world of greed, lies and fear which threatens to break the rules that hold them together. The cast includes: Aya Cash (From Up Here, Offices), Andrew Garman (Salome: The Reading, Wilderness), Matthew Montelongo (The Ritz, The Mineola Twins), Sean T. Parker (The Memoirs of Don Walker), and Mark Setlock (Rent (Original Cast), Fully Committed).

Tickets are $10 and available through www.spfnyc.com, 212-967-7555 or The Public Theater Box Office (425 Lafayette Street in Manhattan, on Sunday and Monday from 1PM-6PM and Tuesday through Saturday from 1PM-7:30PM).

Under founder Arielle Tepper Madover (a producer of such shows as Broadway's Mary Stuart, Frost/Nixon, Monty Python's SPAMALOT, The Pillowman, A Raisin in the Sun, and Freak), the not-for-profit organization The Living Room for Artists, Inc./Summer Play Festival provides emerging writers, directors, designers and producers an opportunity to work on their material and their craft in a protected environment, guided by established professionals at no cost to them.

For more information please visit SPF's website www.spfnyc.com.

 

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