Audible Theater's New York Premiere of SWING STATE to Begin Previews Tomorrow

Audible Theater’s New York premiere of The Goodman Theatre production of Swing State, written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Gilman (The Glory of Living, Spinning Into Butter, Boy Gets Girl) and directed by Tony Award winner Robert Falls (Death of a Salesman), begins previews tomorrow, Friday, September 8, at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre (18 Minetta Lane, between MacDougal & 6th Avenue – one block south of W. 3rd Street), Audible’s creative home for live performances in New York. Opening night of the seven-week limited engagement is set for Sunday, September 17. Swing State will also be recorded and released on Audible at a later date, extending its reach to millions of listeners around the world.
 
The original Chicago cast of powerhouses – Mary Beth Fisher (Peg), Kirsten Fitzgerald (Sheriff Kris), Anne E. Thompson (Dani) and Bubba Weiler (Ryan) – reprise their roles in Gilman’s contemporary portrait of America's heartland in a time when it feels like everyone's way of life is in danger of disappearing.
 
Swing State opened at The Goodman Theatre in the fall of 2022 and marked Rebecca Gilman’s sixth play with Robert Falls; their collaboration spans more than 35 years. Gilman is the most-produced playwright in Goodman Theatre history.
 
Swing State was recently nominated for four 2023 Equity Jeff Awards: Best Production – Play; Best New Work (Rebecca Gilman); Best Director – Play – Large (Robert Falls); and Best Performer in a Principal Role – Play (Mary Beth Fisher). Critics have also raved:

 
ABOUT Swing State

Evenings on the prairie are relatively quiet for Peg, a recently widowed woman in rural Wisconsin who still cooks for two. Which doesn’t go to waste whenever Ryan, a dear friend with a troubled past, pays her a visit. However, after noticing her husband’s toolbox is missing, she places a call to the local authorities—unwittingly setting off a series of events that will forever reverberate through the small community. In a divided country where the lines separating family, friend, and foe have been further blurred in the wake of a global pandemic, Tony Award® winner Robert Falls and Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Gilman masterfully unweave a complex, humanistic yarn the Chicago Sun-Times calls "an engrossing work of intense melancholy, filled with sympathy for its characters, and for the country."
 
The creative team of Swing State includes Todd Rosenthal (scenic design), Evelyn M. Danner (costume design), Eric Southern (lighting design), Richard Woodbury (original music and sound design), Nick Sandys (fight and intimacy director), Alice Maguire (properties), Patrick Fries (production stage manager), and Lauren Port CSA & Rachael Jimenez CSA (casting). Technical supervision is by Hudson Theatrical Associates’ Sean Gorski with general management by Baseline Theatrical’s Jonathan Whitton.
 
Understudies include Jessica Ervin (u/s Dani), Laura T. Fisher (u/s Peg), Jack Lancaster (u/s Ryan), and Erika Rolfsrud (u/s Sheriff Kris).
 

TICKETING INFORMATION

Tickets for Swing State are on sale now.
 
Audible Theater is proud to collaborate with TodayTix to offer $25 mobile rush tickets for all three shows beginning at 9am each performance day. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis exclusively through the TodayTix app.
 
Masks are encouraged but not required for patrons at the Minetta Lane Theatre.
 

ABOUT AUDIBLE THEATER

Audible Theater makes outstanding performances and powerful storytelling available to millions of people all over the world. As part of this initiative, Audible has produced Girls & Boys with Carey Mulligan, The Half-Life of Marie Curie with Kate Mulgrew, Harry Clarke starring Billy Crudup, Billy Crystal’s Have A Nice Day with Annette Bening and Kevin Kline, the revival of Aasif Mandvi’s Sakina’s Restaurant, and many others at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York City. In May 2018, Audible announced that the Minetta Lane Theatre in Greenwich Village will serve as its creative home for live performances in New York. Audible hosts and produces a wide variety of live performances at the Minetta Lane including dramatic plays, comedic shows, engaging panel discussions, and more, with Audible members receiving exclusive access to discounted tickets and related audio content.
 
Audible was co-producer for the Broadway transfer of the Tony Award-nominated Latin History for Morons written by and starring John Leguizamo and for the Tony Award-nominated Sea Wall /A Life starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge. The initiative also saw the release of John Lithgow’s Stories By Heart, Judith Light’s All The Ways To Say I Love You, Sharon Washington’s Feeding The Dragon, and more. Since June 2017, Audible has commissioned 40 theater playwrights to receive support from its $5 million Emerging Playwrights Fund dedicated to developing innovative English-language works from around the globe. The $5 million fund enables the creation of original plays driven by language and voice, keeping with Audible’s core commitment to elevating listening experiences through powerful performances and extraordinary vocal storytelling.
 

ABOUT AUDIBLE, INC.

Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is the leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling, offering global audiences a powerful way to enhance and enrich their lives through extraordinary content. Audible’s catalog includes more than 800,000 audio titles, including Audible Originals as well as audiobooks and podcasts from leading studios, print, audio and magazine publishers and world-renowned entertainers.
 

ABOUT The Goodman Theatre

Chicago’s theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre (Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director/CEO Roche Schulfer) is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the downtown theater district, distinguished by artistic excellence and civic engagement. The theater’s artistic priorities include new play development, large-scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades. The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s American Century Cycle. The 2022 world premiere of Swing State, principally supported by The Roy Cockrum Foundation, marked the 10th production of a play by Pulitzer Prize nominee Rebecca Gilman at Goodman Theatre, where previous works include Twilight Bowl (2019); Soups, Stews, and Casseroles: 1976 (2016); Luna Gale (2014); A True History of the Johnstown Flood (2010); The Crowd You’re in With (2009); Dollhouse (2005); Blue Surge (2001); Boy Gets Girl (2000); and Spinning Into Butter (1999). Jeff Hesse is Chairman of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Fran Del Boca is Women’s Board President and Craig McCaw is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.
 

Photo credit: Liz Lauren

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