'DISCORD', PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, FEEDING THE DRAGON Among Primary Stages' 2017-18 Lineup

Primary Stages has announced its complete 2017/18 Season, which will kick off in Fall 2017 with THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens AND COUNT Leo Tolstoy: DISCORD, written by Scott Carter ("Real Time with Bill Maher") and directed by Kimberly Senior (Disgraced).

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, adapted by and featuring Kate Hamill (Bedlam's Sense and Sensibility) in a co-production with Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival will follow in November 2017.

Early 2018 will bring an untitled collaboration with The Sol Project, and the season will conclude in March 2018 with FEEDING THE DRAGON written and performed by Sharon Washington (While I Yet Live) and directed by Maria Mileaf (A Body of Water).

Performance schedules, additional casting, and full creative teams will be announced at a later date.

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THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens AND COUNT Leo Tolstoy: DISCORD

By Scott Carter

Directed by Kimberly Senior

From Scott Carter, Executive Producer of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," this timely New York Premiere finds three of history's most famous men, all of whom wrote their own version of the gospels, debating everything from religion to literature to marriage in this "hugely entertaining, rapid-fire" (Chicago Sun-Times) new play. Thomas Jefferson (author of the Declaration of Independence), Charles Dickens (the man who brought us A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist) and Count Leo Tolstoy (the epic Russian novelist of War & Peace fame) are trapped in a limbo where each believes their path to salvation depends on convincing the other two that they are wrong. Kimberly Senior, the acclaimed director of Disgraced and Chris Gethard's Career Suicide, will helm this profound and exciting battle of truly biblical proportions. (September-October 2017)

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Written by and featuring Kate Hamill

Adapted from the novel by Jane Austen

Directed by Amanda Dehnert

Presented in a co-production with Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival

This fall, acclaimed writer and actress Kate Hamill (Bedlam's Sense and Sensibility) will debut her playful new adaptation of Jane Austen's classic romance, Pride and Prejudice. The outspoken Elizabeth Bennet faces mounting pressure from her status-conscious mother to secure a suitable marriage. But is marriage suitable for a woman of Elizabeth's intelligence and independence? Especially when the irritating, aloof, self-involved... tall, vaguely handsome, mildly amusing, and impossibly aristocratic Mr. Darcy keeps popping up at every turn?! What? Why are you looking at us like that? Literature's greatest tale of latent love has never felt so theatrical, or so full of life than it does in this effervescent new adaptation. (November-December 2017)

FEEDING THE DRAGON

Written and performed by Sharon Washington

Directed by Maria Mileaf

Award-winning actress Sharon Washington, beloved by audiences for her performances in Primary Stages' productions of While I Yet Live and String of Pearls, as well as The Scottsboro Boys on Broadway, returns to Primary Stages to share a uniquely personal story with the New York premiere of Feeding the Dragon. As both playwright and star of this autobiographical solo piece, Sharon revisits her time growing up in an apartment on the top floor inside the St. Agnes Branch of the New York Public Library, where her father served as the building's custodian. Shrouded in family mystery, Sharon's story boldly examines how both the power of forgiveness and her lifelong love for the written word have helped her battle dragons of all forms. (March-April 2018)

In January 2018, Primary Stages will collaborate with The Sol Project, a New York City-based initiative catalyzing change via a national movement to provide productions by Latinx playwrights, bringing the stories of their community to the fore of the American Theater. The title and playwright of this exciting NYC premiere will be announced at a later date. (January-February 2018)

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All productions to be performed at the Cherry Lane Theatre. Subscriptions for the 2017/18 Primary Stages season are $140 if purchased by April 30, 2017 and offer one ticket to each production. Subscriptions are available at primarystages.org or by calling OvationTix at 212.352.3101.

Currently in performances as part of Primary Stages' 2016/17 season is Tanya Saracho's FADE, running at the Cherry Lane Theatre through March 5. The season began with THE ROADS TO HOME, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Horton Foote (Harrison, TX) and directed by Michael Wilson (The Trip to Bountiful); and will conclude with DANIEL'S HUSBAND, written by Michael McKeever (Moscow) and directed by Joe Brancato (Miracle on South Division Street), running from March 22 through April 28, 2017.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS:

Scott Carter has served as Executive Producer/Writer for HBO's "Real Time With Bill Maher" since its premiere in 2003. In 2007, he was awarded the Producers' Guild Of America's Johnny Carson Award. He produced the first 1,100 episodes of "Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher," from its 1993 Comedy Central debut to its 1997 move to ABC. While at "P.I.," Carter won three consecutive Best Talk Series trophies from the CableAce Awards, a now defunct organization. In 1997, Variety named him one of "50 Creatives To Watch." Carter also co-created, produced and wrote for "Lewis Black's Root Of All Evil" (Comedy Central), "Exhale With Candice Bergen" (Oxygen Media), "Earth To America" (TBS), "Conversations From The Edge with Carrie Fisher" (Oxygen Media), "The Conspiracy Zone with Kevin Nealon" (SpikeTV), "Oxygen Forum: Al Gore" (Oxygen Media), "Night After Night With Allan Havey" (Comedy Central), "SportsMonster" (Comedy Central), "The Olympiacs" (Comedy Central) and "Mouth To Mouth" (MTV).

Carter is a former stand-up comedian and improviser who, during the 1980's, performed at such clubs as The Comic Strip, The Original Improvisation and Chicago City Limits. He has performed his two full-length monologues, "Heavy Breathing" and Suspension Bridge," at The Edinburgh (Scotland) Fringe Festival, The U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, Garry Marshall's Falcon Theatre, Michael Patrick King's Arcade, The HBO Workspace, Primary Stages, Manhattan Punch-line, Dixon Place, The Cleveland Performance Festival, The Skirball Cultural Center and The Murphy's Cat Laughs Festival (in Kilkenny, Ireland). In 2014, his play The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: DISCORD ran for 101 performances in Los Angeles at The NoHo Arts Center and Geffen Playhouse. It has been published by Dramatists Play Service and has received a dozen productions across the country. Carter recently completed The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: HARMONY, a companion to DISCORD. His next play will be The Confession of Saint Augustine And The Cops Who Beat It Out of Him. Carter lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two daughters.

Kate Hamill is an actor and playwright. Her award-winning adaptation of Sense and Sensibility (in which she originated the role of Marianne) premiered off-Broadway with Bedlam. Sense and Sensibility was named "Top 10 Theater of 2014" by Ben Brantley of the New York Times (2X Critic's Pick) and by the Huffington Post, which called S&S "the greatest stage adaptation of this novel in history." S&S won the Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Unique Theatrical Experience 2016, and was nominated for a Drama League Award (Best Revival, 2016). It ran for over 265 performances off-Broadway. Other plays include In the Mines (2015 Sundance semi-finalist, 2016 NEXT New Musical Festival), Em (Red Bull Theater New Play finalist), Little Fellow (2015 O'Neill semi-finalist), Love Poem, and new adaptations of Vanity Fair (HVSF2) and Pride & Prejudice. She is currently developing several projects, including musical adaptation of 20K Leagues Under the Sea, as well as a new musical with composer Carmel Dean (Broadway's American Idiot, If/Then). Recently produced at Dallas Theater Center, Kate's S&S opened the Guthrie Theater's and Folger Theatre's 2016 seasons while simultaneously continuing its off-Broadway run. Upcoming: Vanity Fair will have its world premiere off-Broadway with the Pearl Theatre Company in spring 2017; Kate will be in the cast. Pride and Prejudice will premiere at several theaters in 2017, including the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival.

Acting credits include: The Seagull (Bedlam; one of the "best classical productions of 2014" - WSJ), All That Fall (Cherry Lane), Internet Famous (Youngblood), When the Levee Broke (Workshop Theater Co.), Separation Rapid (Chenango River Theatre), Walk Two Moons (Theatreworks), The Good Person of Szechwan (Columbia Stages), The Nameday Party (Schapiro Theatre), Dreams of A West Texas Marsupial Girl (PearlDamour). Numerous independent films that she has performed in have gone on to festival success, including Montauk, PS 432, and Wash Song, which have been accepted to: Cannes Film Festival, Clermont Ferrand Film Festival, Festival del Film Locarno, Brooklyn Film Festival, New Orleans Film Festival (Jury Award Finalist), Honolulu Film Festival, Black Maria Film Festival (Stellar Award), etc. BFA Acting, Ithaca College. More information at www.kate-hamill.com.

Feeding the Dragon is Sharon Washington's debut as a writer and she is thrilled to be returning to Primary Stages for its NYC premiere. The play received its world premiere at City Theatre this past fall. Sharon has been a working actress for over 25 years. Previous Primary Stages appearances were in While I Yet Live and String of Pearls. Other recent Off-Broadway appearances include Dot (Vineyard Theater); Wild with Happy (Public Theater - Lucille Lortel nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress, Audelco Award); Luce (Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3); and The Overwhelming (Roundabout Theatre). Sharon appeared on Broadway in The Scottsboro Boys, the last collaboration of the legendary team of Kander & Ebb in the role she originated Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theater. Select regional credits include: Dot (Actors Theatre of Louisville); Intimate Apparel (Guthrie Theater); Merry Wives of Windsor and King Lear (Denver Center); Jar The Floor(Seattle Rep); The Story (Long Wharf Theatre).

Sharon's most recent film appearance was playing opposite Danny DeVito in Wiener Dog. Other film and television credits include: "Gotham," "Blue Bloods," "The Blacklist," "White Collar,""Taking Chance," "Royal Pains," "Damages," Mistress America, The Bourne Legacy, Michael Clayton, School of Rock, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Malcolm X, Die Hard With A Vengeance, the web series "Hustling" (for which she received a 2015 Indie Series Award); "Law & Order," "Law & Order: CI," and "Law & Order: SVU" where she can occasionally be seen on the bench as Judge Virginia Hayes. You may also recognize her voice from her narrations of several documentary series including Animal Planet, Discovery and NOVA. MFA: Yale School of Drama. BA: Dartmouth College. The Dalton School. www.sharonwashington.com

Primary Stages is an Off-Broadway not-for-profit theater company dedicated to inspiring, supporting, and sharing the art of playwriting. We operate on the strongly held belief that the future of American theater relies on nurturing playwrights and giving them the artistic support needed to create new work. Since our founding in 1984, we have produced more than 125 new plays, including Donald Margulies' The Model Apartment (1995 premiere and 2013 revival); David Ives' Lives of the Saints and All in the Timing (original 1993 production and 2013 revival); Billy Porter's While I Yet Live; Kate Fodor's Rx; Charles Busch's The Tribute Artist and Olive and the Bitter Herbs; A.R. Gurney's Black Tie; Horton Foote's Harrison, TX and Dividing the Estate (Two 2009 Tony Award® nominations); Theresa Rebeck's Poor Behavior; Deborah Zoe Laufer's Informed Consent; Terrence McNally's Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams and The Stendhal Syndrome; Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter's In the Continuum (which went on to tour the U.S., Africa, and Scotland); and Conor McPherson's St. Nicholas (which marked the playwright's U.S. debut). Our productions and artists have received critical acclaim, including Tony, Obie, Lortel, AUDELCO, Outer Critics' Circle, Drama League, and Drama Desk awards and nominations. Primary Stages supports playwrights and develops new works through commissions, workshops, readings, and our education and training programs: The Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group, the Marvin and Anne Einhorn School of Performing Arts (ESPA), the Fordham/Primary Stages MFA in Playwriting, and the newly launched Primary Stages Off-Broadway Oral History Project. Through these programs, Primary Stages advocates for our artists, helping them make important-and often transformative- connections within the theater community.