SKY-PONY, WORKING ON A SPECIAL DAY and THE GOLDEN DRAGON Set for Play Company's 2012-13 New Works

Off-Broadway's The Play Company launches its 2012-13 Season with the concert-theater hybrid piece SKY-PONY: RAPTURED, created by Obie Award-winning writer and musician Kyle Jarrow (ARMLESS, A VERY MERRY UNAUTHORIZED CHILDREN'S SCIENTOLOGY PAGEANT) and singer/actress Lauren Worsham (WHERE'S CHARLEY, Jerry Springer THE OPERA), to be presented as a studio production starring their Brooklyn-based indie band Sky-Pony, October 25-28, at the Ukrainian National Home (140 Second Avenue).

On January 10, The Play Company, in collaboration with Mexico City-based Por Piedad Teatro, presents the US premiere of WORKING ON A SPECIAL DAY – a new play inspired by Ettore Scola's Oscar-nominated Italian film and play "Una Giornata Particolare" about an overworked housewife and a mysterious bachelor, circa 1938 on the day Hitler visits Mussolini’s Rome – with performances running through February 10, at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street).

The Play Company's 2012-13 Season continues, on May 8, with the New York premiere of acclaimed German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig's THE GOLDEN DRAGON, a dark comedy about the workers, customers and neighbors of a Pan-Asian restaurant – and the toothache that brings them together. Directed by Ed Sylvanus Iskandar (THESE SEVEN
SICKNESSES), and translated by David Tushingham, THE GOLDEN DRAGON runs through June 9 at The New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher Street).

Following are details about The Play Company's 2012-13 Season:

SKY-PONY: RAPTURED
October 25-28
at the Ukrainian National Home (140 Second Avenue)

Created by Kyle Jarrow and Lauren Worsham
Songs by Kyle Jarrow
Performed by Sky-Pony
Directed by Peter James Cook (NEVER SLEEP ALONE)

In SKY-PONY: RAPTURED, set in an isolated paradise, a young girl is raised to believe she's the messiah. But when she discovers her sensuality through the power of music, her spiritual certainty turns to doubt. Brooklyn band Sky-Pony leads you through her story with their lush, cheeky indie-pop sound.

"Both of us have spent our careers moving between theater and concert settings, and we're fascinated by the different ways they involve the audience. We're creating a hybrid piece that fuses the two experiences—and also having fun with the audience-performer relationship," explain creators Lauren Worsham and Kyle Jarrow. "This is a show that'll feel like stepping into a rock album that comes to life."

SKY-PONY: RAPTURED is being presented as a studio production and is not open for review.

WORKING ON A SPECIAL DAY - U.S. Premiere
January 10 - February 10 at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street)

Based on “Una Giornata Particolare” by Ettore Scola, Ruggero Maccari and Gigliola Fantoni
Translation and Adaptation by Danya Taymor, Ana Graham and Antonio Vega
Original staging concept by Laura Almela and Daniel Gimenez Cacho

In WORKING ON A SPECIAL DAY, inspired by Ettore Scola's Oscar-nominated 1977 film and play "Una Giornata Particolare" ("A Special Day"), two actors explore the life-changing encounter between an overworked housewife and a mysterious bachelor on May 8, 1938 -the day Rome celebrates Hitler's visit to Mussolini's Italy. Using only simple props with an unusual performance style, actors Ana Graham and Antonio Vega create a bittersweet human drama that unfolds within the charged political landscape of rising fascism.

Presented by The Play Company, in collaboration with Mexico City-based Por Piedad Teatro, WORKING ON A SPECIAL DAY was showcased last season as a studio production.

According to performers Graham and Vega, “Doing an English-language adaptation of an Italian piece when we ourselves are Mexican would seem rather odd if it not for the fact that theatre is all about imagination. Let's pretend we are Italians. Let's pretend the theatre
is an apartment building in Rome. Let's pretend it’s 1938, Mussolini is in power and Hitler is visiting today. Let's pretend we are happy about it. Then, let us put some questions into your mind: Is fascism over? Is it a political regime or a state of mind? “

THE GOLDEN DRAGON - NY Premiere
May 8 - June 9 at the New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher Street)

Written by Roland Schimmelpfennig
Directed by Ed Sylvanus Iskandar (THESE SEVEN SICKNESSES)
Translation by David Tushingham

In THE GOLDEN DRAGON, an agonizing toothache launches a tragicomic tale set in your local Pan-Asian takeout. Five actors play 15 characters as the tooth magically weaves together the stories of the immigrant kitchen workers, their customers and neighbors in the heat and frenzy of the dinner rush. This high energy, kaleidoscopic play by one of Europe's most popular and adventurous writers explores how intertwined our lives really are.

The Play Company produced the New York premiere of Roland Schimmelpfennig's ARABIAN NIGHT, translated by David Tushingham and directed by Trip Cullman, in 2006.

"I've lived in Turkey. I've worked in America. My wife has a Mexican passport, and the friends of my children have roots in India, Cuba, Peru, and Vietnam," says author Roland Schimmelpfennig. "My plays don't care about intellectuals in galleries, but about fruit dealers and cashiers, the bleary-eyed girls in the morning on the subway. Berlin isn't an intellectual city anymore. It's an open city, an international metropolis. That's the city I write for."

Casting and design credits for all productions are to be announced.

An Off-Broadway company dedicated to advancing an international view of contemporary playwriting, The Play Company most recently presented the OBIE Award-winning U.S. premiere of Jonas Hassen Khemiri’s play INVASION!, and the New York premiere of Marius von Mayenburg’s THE UGLY ONE. Other recent productions include the American premiere of Toshiki Okada’s play ENJOY and the world premiere of Eliza Clark’s EDGEWISE. The 2012-13 season is made possible, in part, through the generosity of The American Theatre Wing, which recently awarded the company a 2012 National Theatre Company Grant.

Linking NYC artists and audiences to a whole world of plays, and placing American work in a global context, The Play Company produces unusual, ambitious work that reflects and responds to the issues and events that shape our time. Past productions include the NY premiere of Lloyd Suh’s AMERICAN HWANGAP, the NY premiere of Roland Schimmelpfennig's ARABIAN NIGHT (Germany); the U.S. premieres of Przemyslaw Wojcieszek's MADE IN POLAND (Poland); Robert Farquhar's BAD JAZZ (England), Simon Farquhar’s RAINBOW KISS (Scotland), Vijay Tendulkar's SAKHARAM BINDER (India); Yoji Sakate's THE ATTIC (Japan); and The Presnyakov Brothers' TERRORISM (Russia); as well as world premieres of the American plays SMASHING by Brooke Berman and HIGH DIVE by Leslie Ayvazian. PlayCo received a 2007 Obie Award for its “unique contribution to the theatre community.” The Play Company is under the guidance of Kate Loewald, Founding Producer, and Lauren Weigel, Executive Producer.

Performance schedules and ticketing information are to be announced.

For additional information about The Play Company and its upcoming season, visit www.playco.org or call 212- 398-2977.