At Play Presents HERMAN KLINE'S MIDLIFE CRISIS, 8/14

At Play presents the U.S. premiere of HERMAN KLINE'S MIDLIFE CRISIS - a new play by Josh Koenigsberg, whose play "Al's Business Cards" was called "a zippy new comedy" when it debuted in 2009 -- with previews starting August 7th prior to its official press opening on August 14th at Theatre Row's Beckett Theatre (410 West 42nd Street) in Manhattan. HERMAN KLINE'S MIDLIFE CRISIS is produced by Kelcie Beene and Anthony Francavilla.

Directed by Sherri Eden Barber, HERMAN KLINE'S MIDLIFE CRISIS features a cast including Adam LeFevre (most recently seen on Broadway in the 2009 revival of GUYS AND DOLLS, Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock"), Kathryn Kates ("Lizzie McGuire," "Seinfeld"), Mary Quick (ANIMALS THAT LIVE IN THE MIRROR), and Bobby Moreno (AL'S BUSINESS CARDS, INVASION!).

HERMAN KLINE'S MIDLIFE CRISIS concerns the unlikely events that ensue when a prominent New York City doctor, struggling with the tedium of career and marriage, discovers a bag of narcotics on a patient's body. Recently produced in London by the Old Vic New Voices as part of its inaugural "Coming Up" Festival, HERMAN KLINE'S MIDLIFE CRISIS is a bittersweet and heartbreaking comedy about the bizarre ways in which we deal with our own mortality.

Design team for HERMAN KLINE'S MIDLIFE CRISIS is: Anne Goelz (set design), Whitney Locher (costume design), Zane Birdwell (sound design), and Jeffrey Small (lighting design).

Josh Koenigsberg's play AL'S BUSINESS CARDS was a New York Times "Critic's Pick" during its run at the Lion Theater at Theatre Row in 2009, where it was presented by At Play. The New York Times called AL'S BUSINESS CARDS "A zippy new comedy," going on to say, "Plenty of young writers hit on a good opening gimmick for a play but don't know where to go with it after the first scene or two. Josh Koenigsberg doesn't have that problem in AL'S BUSINESS CARDS." Nytheatre.com called AL'S "a delightful new play...a very funny one, in fact. One of the nicest surprises of the summer. Josh Koenigsberg seems like just the kind of artist the theatre needs all year round."

Mr. Koenigsberg won the 2010 Samuel French Off Off Broadway festival for his short play DANCE LESSONS. His work has been developed at The Public Theater, Atlantic Theater Company, Second Stage, Naked Angels, Ars Nova, The Old Vic, among others. He is a founding ensemble member of At Play, as well as a member of the Old Vic New Voices Network, the Ars Nova Playgroup and The Dramatist's Guild. He is currently one of the staff writers for the podcast "Naked Radio." Josh has written several screenplays with Simon Rich, the most recent being "Seymour Escapes From Alcatraz!" He has an MFA in playwrighting from Columbia University and a BA in Philosophy and the Arts from Bard College.

Sherri Eden Barber is a New York-based theater director. Recent directing
credits include: Empire of the Trees and Tilly and Bill (Abingdon Theatre/Wizard Oil Productions), Dance Lessons (At Play--winner of the Samuel French Short Play Festival), References To Salvador Dali Make Me Hot (Hangar Theatre-Wedge), Red Light Winter (59E59), Hylan Park with Annabella Sciorri, How To Quit Smoking and Baptism (Atlantic), 365 Days/365 Plays (The Public), Sometimes After Dinner (Youngblood/EST), Where We Are Right Now (The Pink Campaign), Orestes 2.0 (Eden Productions/Site-Specific), and This is Our Youth (Eden Productions/Site-Specific). She has developed new work with The Orchard Project, New York Theatre Workshop, Primary Stages and The Old Vic. Sherri is a Drama League Directing Fellow. She was awarded the SDCF Observership on The New York Idea with Mark Brokaw (Atlantic) and is a member of At Play, the Old Vic/New Voices Network, and was the recipient of the 2009 US/UK Exchange Award.

At Play -- which presented the premiere of AL'S BUSINESS CARDS on Theatre Row in 2009 -- is a group of artists brought together by The 24 Hour Company and The Old Vic Theatre, under the artistic direction of Kevin Spacey and Tina Fallon. In its productions of The 24 Hour Plays Off Broadway, At Play has worked in collaboration with such guest artists as Beau Willimon, Ethan Hawke, Josh Hamilton and Jonathan Marc Sherman. Other At Play productions include Dance Lessons(Sam French OOB Fest), Laura Jacqmin's Dental Society Midwinter Meeting at Chicago's Theater on the Lake, Generation ME (Atlantic), (a)broadness (Center Stage NY), and WORK (Ars Nova). At Play is a member of The Exchange, a NY based co-op of theater companies and producer of The Orchard Project.

Scheduled through September 3, HERMAN KLINE'S MIDLIFE CRISIS will have performances Tuesdays at 7:00pm, Wednesdays - Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 3:00pm at Theatre Row's Beckett Theatre (410 West 42nd Street). Tickets are $42.50 and can be purchased through Telecharge - www.Telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200.

 

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