The Phoenix Theatre of Indianapolis Opens 4000 MILES, 5/9

The Phoenix Theatre of Indianapolis announces the Indiana Premiere of the newest play by Amy Herzog, 4000 Miles in the Frank and Katrina Basile Theatre. Opening Thursday, May 9, and running through Sunday, June 9, 2013, the play is a skillful joining of loose ends. The dangling threads in this case are Leo, a scruffy cyclist trying to find his bearings after a cross-country road trip, and Vera, a crotchety lefty teetering on the brink of infirmity in a rent-controlled apartment in Greenwich Village. In the end, Leo and Vera endear themselves to the audience in much the same way that they grow on each other.

"About a year ago, Martha Jacobs brought this play to my attention. She had seen - and was moved by - 4000 Miles on Broadway and thought it would be a good fit for the Phoenix," stated Phoenix Theatre Producing Director Bryan Fonseca. "In the end, this play is about how we all struggle to find our place in the world. Leo and Vera help each other find where they belong."

About 4000 Miles

The play takes its name from the bike trip Leo has been on with his ill-fated friend, Micah, from St. Paul to New York City, where his outdoorsy girlfriend, the touchingly mournful Bec is studying. Clueless Leo turns up at Vera's threshold before dawn and soon enough, the easily irritated Vera is washing out his underwear and lending him money for trips to the climbing-wall gym.

The sharing of close quarters brings out the best in Leo and Vera, without thoroughly erasing what renders them imperfect and what would make either of them tough to live with. The sweet speech Leo practices for Vera at the end of the play reveals that he may be ready to abandon the cocoon in which he's traveled all those miles, just as Vera experiences a meaningful cracking of her own shell.

The Cast

Phoenix Theatre Producing Director Bryan Fonseca and 4000 Miles Director Bill Simmons has brought together a wonderful cast, including Martha Jacobs as Vera. Jacobs was most recently seen on the Phoenix stage as the family matriarch in August: Osage County, but who has acted in and directed over 20 shows in the Phoenix history. Purdue Junior Andrew Martin is making his Phoenix debut as Leo. Arianne Villareal, previously seen in this season's Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, is Amanda, and recent DePauw graduate Jacqueline Keyes is Bec.

The Playwright

Amy Herzog's plays - in addition to 4000 Miles - include After the Revolution (Williamstown, Playwrights Horizons; John Gassner Award Nomination), The Wendy Play (ACT, San Francisco), Hungry (Ensemble Studio Theater) and Belleville (upcoming, Yale Repertory Theater). She has had readings/workshops at Steppenwolf, Manhattan Theater Club, New York Stage and Film, Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., and Soho Rep, among others. She holds commissions from the Yale Rep, Steppenwolf, Ars Nova, and Playwrights Horizons and is an alumna of Youngblood, Play Group, and the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, a Helen Merrill Award recipient, a former Playwrights' Realm Fellow, and the 2010 Playwright in Residence at Ars Nova. She teaches Playwriting at Bryn Mawr. MFA: Yale School of Drama.