Stefano Massini Makes US Debut With INTRACTABLE WOMAN

The Play Company presents the U.S. premiere of renowned playwright Stefano Massini's Intractable Woman: A Theatrical Memo on Anna Politkovskaya, directed by Lee Sunday Evans (Dance Nation, PlayCo's Caught) and translated by Paula Wing. The production, Massini's U.S. debut, follows vast acclaim for the National Theatre's new production of Massini's The Lehman Trilogy, directed by Sam Mendes. With PlayCo's upcoming production of Massini's Intractable Woman, American audiences will have their first opportunity to see his work staged in the U.S.

Performances of Intractable Woman take place September 13-October 14 at 122CC, 2nd Floor Theater, 150 1st Avenue. Please see below for a schedule of performances. Critics are welcome as of Thursday, September 20 for an official opening on Sunday, September 23.

Intractable Woman follows journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya, who was murdered in Moscow in 2006 after spending the previous seven years exposing government suppression and the atrocities of war in Chechnya. Staged at a moment when even the U.S. constitutional protection of a free press feels precarious, and swelling numbers of journalists are being jailed and even killed for their work worldwide, Intractable Woman is a vital display of the indispensability of journalism in the face of a government that views it as an enemy force to stifle.

While Intractable Woman is layered with vivid cultural detail surrounding a life that was taken over a decade ago, Politkovskaya's story also brims with immediacy and universality. In Evans's production, three actors-Nadine Malouf (PlayCo's Oh My Sweet Land; queens at LCT3), Nicole Shalhoub (China Doll on Broadway; The Clean House at Lincoln Center Theater), and Stacey Yen (PlayCo's Enjoy; Miles for Mary at Playwrights Horizons)-will deliver this interpretation of her experiences reporting on and living within the Second Chechen war. Theatre cannot resurrect the dead, but it can tap into the desires that compelled them in life-and Intractable Woman mines Politkovskaya's uncompromising desire to unveil the truths behind authoritarian power. Massini's take on Politkovskaya, inspired by her life and her writing, illuminates the resilience it takes to question governments simply by stating facts.

Evans, who returns to PlayCo following 2016's Caught, which she directed with "exquisite precision" (The New York Times) says, "There's something about the granular, everyday detail of life in a warzone that takes it out of sensationalism and really makes it about the experience of living and existing there. With this cast of three women, I want audiences to feel the tension between the incredible and courageous things she was doing when she was alive, while also feeling that her life was cut short. We are never attempting to recreate her, but we are honoring her spirit and sense of duty to report what was happening, no matter the cost."

PlayCo is unique in its commitment to producing an international program of new plays, from both the U.S. and around the world, to advance a dynamic, global experience of contemporary theater and expand the American repertoire.The production marks a U.S. debut for Massini, a prominent Italian writer, director, and artistic head of Milan's renowned Piccolo Teatro. Massini's play offers a window into the political landscape of Putin's Russia, the ravages of the Second Chechen War, and Chechnya under the authoritarian rule of Ramzan Kadyrov, approaching all forms of sociopolitical detail with wrenching clarity. The Theatre Times writes that Massini's text "transmits the lively attitude of Anna Politkovskaya's writing...[how] she never stopped feeling surprise and disbelief at the human rights violations she documented."

Performances of Intractable Woman will take place September 13 - October 14 on the second floor of 122CC, located at 150 1st Avenue, New York, NY. Critics are welcome as of Thursday, September 20 for an official opening on Sunday, September 23. Regular performances will take place from September 22 at 7:30pm. Sunday matinees will take place at 3pm.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting playco.org or calling 866 811 4111. PlayCo has launched OpenHouse Access Program, a new ticketing initiative with multiple pricing levels to increase accessibility. As part ofthe program, there are a limited number of $15 "Theater for Everyone" tickets available for four weeks only, until July 22. $15 student tickets can be purchased in advance with a valid school ID presented at will call. Group rates and discounts for teachers, librarians, first responders, and active duty personnel will also be available.

Photo Credit: Richard Bowditch