Signature Theatre Company Announces 2008-09 Season!

Signature Theatre Company (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) is proud to announce its 2008-2009 season celebrating the historic Negro Ensemble Company (NEC). The 2008-2009 Season will include productions of The First Breeze of Summer by Leslie Lee, Home by Samm-Art Williams, and Zooman and the Sign by Charles Fuller.

Signature's 2008-2009 season will be an examination of a body of work from the historic Negro Ensemble Company's collective of writers, whose contributions have helped shape America's theatrical heritage.  Ruben Santiago-Hudson will serve as Associate Artist for the season.

"The Historic Negro Ensemble Company made an incredible impact on the landscape of American Theatre for over three decades and many of the most accomplished African Americans actors of our day nurtured their crafts inside the huge body of work that was presented at NEC. This season at Signature Theatre we will celebrate some of the incredible writers that provided the plays and roles that many careers were propelled out of." –Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Associate Artist

NEC Founding Artistic Director Douglas Turner Ward said "Signature Theatre is to be commended for keeping alive the great artistic legacy of the historic Negro Ensemble Company. I am happy to assist in any way I can."

Signature's Founding Artistic Director James Houghton commented, "Signature Theatre Company's celebration of the historic Negro Ensemble Company is an exciting expansion of our mission to honor and celebrate writers. The extraordinary work of the NEC provides the opportunity to explore the body of work of a company that created a vital artistic home for playwrights. The NEC's contribution to the American theatrical canon is invaluable, and we look forward to revisiting some of their seminal works and engaging these wonderful writers and founding artistic director Douglas Turner Ward throughout the season. We also welcome Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who has a history with the NEC, as our associate artist for the year."

The First Breeze of Summer premiered in 1975 at St. Mark's Playhouse before moving to the Palace Theatre on Broadway and garnering a Tony Award nomination for Best Play. Home was originally produced off-Broadway in 1980 by the historic NEC before moving to Broadway and being honored with two Tony and Drama Desk nominations- each for Best Play and Best Actor. The NEC also produced Zooman and the Sign in 1980 which won playwright Charles Fuller the OBIE Award for Best New Play.

Through The Signature Ticket Initiative, which seeks to make great theatre accessible to the broadest possible audience, all regularly-priced single tickets ($65) are underwritten and are available for $20 every performance for the entire season, during a show's initial run.  The Signature Ticket Initiative continues through Signature's 20th Anniversary Season (2010-2011).

The Signature Ticket Initiative is made possible by the lead sponsorship of Time Warner Inc.  Generous support for The Signature Ticket Initiative is provided by Margot Adams, in memory of Mason Adams.

American Express is a proud sponsor of the Negro Ensemble Company Season.

Alll productions will be performed at Signature Theatre Company's Peter Norton Space, located at 555 West 42nd Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues).  For more information and tickets, please visit signaturetheatre.org, or call (212) 244-PLAY (7529). Subscriptions will go on sale in late April.

The season is as follows:

The First Breeze of Summer
by Leslie Lee
Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson
August 5-September 28, 2008

The struggles of three generations of the Edwards family collide over the course of one sweltering weekend in June. Gremmar, the family matriarch, looks back on her past and considers its legacy for her children and grandchildren as they confront the choices that will define their futures. Leslie Lee's Obie Award-winning play is a timeless portrait of family bonds and coming of age.

Home
by Samm-Art Williams
Director TBA
November 11, 2008-January 4, 2009

Leaving behind his family's farm in North Carolina, Cephus Miles seeks refuge and prosperity in the North. Three actors portray more than twenty-five characters over the course of Cephus's epic journey from adolescence to adulthood, spanning the 1950's through the Vietnam War and Civil Rights eras. Samm-Art Williams' critically acclaimed work is a wonderfully theatrical tale of one man's struggle to stay true to himself amidst a rapidly changing and turbulent America.

Zooman and the Sign
by Charles Fuller
Directed by Stephen McKinley Henderson
March 3-April 19, 2009

 A random act of violence leaves Reuben Tate and his family questioning their friends and neighbors, but their once caring community has been scared into helpless silence.  As young Zooman terrorizes the neighborhood from the shadows, Reuben makes a dangerous appeal which may tear their world apart.  This powerful drama by Charles Fuller, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Soldier's Play, depicts the devastating aftermath of violence on a family and an entire community.     

 
Day of Absence
Staged Reading
Written and Directed by Douglas Turner Ward

Signature returns to the roots of the Negro Ensemble Company with a special staged reading of Douglas Turner Ward's Day of Absence, the seminal 1965 play that inspired the founding of the NEC.

Signature continues to honor and celebrate the Negro Ensemble Company with special presentations of three more plays from the historic NEC repertoire. Curated by NEC Founding Artistic Director, Douglas Turner Ward, Signature Associate Artist, Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Signature Theatre Company staff, these plays will be read on stage at the Peter Norton Space on Monday evenings throughout the season. Join us for these rarely performed works and gain greater insight into the history of this vital and ground-breaking company.

For more information please visit www.signaturetheatre.org

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