Round House Theatre Announces Changes to Season

Round House Theatre Producing Artistic Director Ryan Rilette announces the addition of Bill Cain's How to Write a New Book for the Bible and Gina Gionfriddo's Becky Shaw to the company's 2012/13 Bethesda season. How to Write a New Book for the Bible, which replaces the previously announced I Do! I Do!, runs April 10 – May 5, 2013. Becky Shaw, which replaces the previously announced Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club, runs May 29 – June 23, 2013.

An east coast premiere, How to Write a New Book for the Bible is directed by Ryan Rilette. Writers are told to write what they know. But as Bill Cain (Equivocation) discovers in writing about his family, sometimes those we are closest to are the biggest mysteries of all. In a powerful, beautiful new play taken from Cain's own experiences, a man moves in with his ailing but always funny mother when she becomes too frail to care for herself. Their reunion heals old wounds, opening a heartfelt and humorous new chapter in their relationship. A Jesuit priest as well as an award-winning playwright, Cain brings a fascinating viewpoint to this look at why the details of our lives and loves matter. "Bracingly personal, smart, funny, affecting…sharp wit and penetrating intelligence" ? San Francisco Chronicle

An Off-Broadway smash hit by Obie Award-winner Gina Gionfriddo, Becky Shaw is a DC area premiere. When Suzanna sets up her best friend Max on a blind date with her husband's co-worker Becky Shaw, she sets into motion a series of cataclysmic events that forever change all of their lives. Like the Victorian upstart Becky Sharp, this modern Becky is unsure, overdressed and socially ambitious. But she's no shrinking violet, as the silkily cynical Max soon learns. A Pulitzer Prize finalist that The New York Times called "as engrossing as it is ferociously funny," Becky Shaw is a comedy of romantic errors that asks what we owe to the people we love most and the strangers who land on our doorstep.

"These two plays represent an introduction to a new artistic vision for Round House, one that celebrates the best new plays from New York and regional theater," said Ryan Rilette. "Bill and Gina are phenomenal playwrights whose work is still relatively unknown in the DC metro area. Bill's play Equivocation was seen at Arena Stage last season, and Gina's play After Ashley was produced at Woolly Mammoth a few years ago. We're thrilled to introduce DC metro area audiences to the breadth of their work with the area premieres of these fabulous plays."

Tickets range in price from $10 to $61 and may be purchased by calling 240.644.1100, online at www.roundhousetheatre.org, or at Round House's box office in Bethesda. Tickets are also available in discounted subscription packages of three or more plays. Round House Theatre Bethesda is located at 4545 East-West Highway, one block from Wisconsin Avenue and the Bethesda station on Metro's Red Line.

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