Actors Theatre of Louisville to Premiere THE CHRISTIANS at 38th Humana Festival of New American Plays, 3/4-4/6

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein are delighted to announce that Lucas Hnath's new play, The Christians, will receive its world premiere at Actors Theatre during the 38th Humana Festival of New American Plays. The Christians, which was commissioned by Actors Theatre of Louisville, will be directed by Les Waters and performed in the Pamela Brown Auditorium. The production will begin previews on March 4, open on March 6 and run through April 6, 2014.

Twenty years ago, Pastor Paul's church was nothing more than a modest storefront. Now he presides over a congregation of thousands, with classrooms for Sunday School, a coffee shop in the lobby, and a baptismal font as big as a swimming pool. Today should be a day of celebration. But Paul is about to preach a sermon that will shake the foundations of his church's belief. A big-little play about faith in America-and the trouble with changing your mind.

Lucas Hnath says, "I've wanted to write this play for at least ten years now. Another way of saying that is that I've been avoiding writing this play for at least ten years. Why? Well, it's rather difficult-and I'd even say dangerous-to write about something as personal and ineffable as faith. Actors Theatre of Louisville has been my artistic home base for the last couple of years; it's the theatre that gave me my first professional production. When Les Waters commissioned me to write a new play, it seemed that I ought to write my most ambitious play, totally go for broke. And so I've written The Christians in an attempt to take on the subject of faith without irony and without preaching to any choir. Les has been an integral part of the tradition and aesthetics that have influenced me the most. The opportunity to collaborate with him on this play feels like a kind of homecoming or full circle movement."

"Lucas Hnath is an incredibly talented writer and is fast becoming a major voice in contemporary American theatre," says Actors Theatre's Artistic Director Les Waters. "Actors Theatre has championed Lucas' work since producing his ten-minute play The Courtship of Anna Nicole Smith with our Apprentice/Intern Company in 2010, and we premiered his full-length play Death Tax in the Humana Festival two years later. I am honored to include this vital new commission in the 2014 Festival lineup."

Actors Theatre previously produced Hnath's Death Tax in the 2012 Humana Festival; that play went on to receive a subsequent production at The Royal Court Theatre in London, and was honored with a 2013 Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award Citation. Actors also produced Hnath's one-act play nightnight in the 2013 Humana Festival as part of the triptych Sleep Rock Thy Brain, and his ten-minute play The Courtship of Anna Nicole Smith in the 2010 Apprentice/Intern Tens. Other plays include Red Speedo (Studio Theatre, Washington, D.C.), A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney (Soho Rep), and Isaac's Eye(Ensemble Studio Theatre).

Actors Theatre celebrates the 38th Humana Festival with its underwriter The Humana Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Humana, Inc. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.

The full lineup of the Humana Festival of New American Plays will be announced on November 10, 2013.

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