Signature's 'MASTER HAROLD'...AND THE BOYS Extends An Additional Week

Due to popular demand, the Signature Theatre (Paige Evans, Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director; James Houghton, Founder) production of "Master Harold" ... and the boys, written and directed by Tony Award winner Athol Fugard, has been extended for a second time. The production will now run through December 11, 2016 in The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues). Tickets during extension performances begin at $35.

To purchase tickets for all Signature Productions, call Ticket Services at 212-244-7529 (Tues. - Sun., 11am - 6pm) or visit www.SignatureTheatre.org.

"Master Harold" ... and the boys opened on November 7 to critical acclaim.

In a small South African tea shop in 1950, two black men and a white boy joke and dance together, defying the brutalities of apartheid through their joyous love. But festering issues of family, race, and power are not so easy to ignore, and a single phone call can trigger catastrophe. Winner of the Drama Desk and London Evening Standard Awards for Best Play, "Master Harold" ... and the boys reveals the profound personal consequences of oppression.

The cast includes Leon Addison Brown (Signature's The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek & The Train Driver) as Sam, Tony Award nominee Sahr Ngaujah (FELA! & Signature's The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek) as Willie and Noah Robbins (NBC's "Grease Live!" & MCC's Punk Rock) as Hally.

The creative team includes Christopher H. Barreca (Scenic Design), Susan Hilferty (Costume Design), Stephen Strawbridge (Lighting Design), John Gromada (Sound Design), Barbara Rubin (Dialect Coach), Paula Fourie (Associate Director), Peter Pucci (Choreographer). Linda Marvel is the Production Stage Manager. Casting by Telsey + Company.

2016-17 SEASON OVERVIEW

RESIDENCY ONE

The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World AKA the Negro Book of the Dead

By Suzan-Lori Parks

Directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz

Now in performances; Extended through December 18 | The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre

A woman tries to feed her husband a fried drumstick. Dragons roam a flat earth. The last Black man in the whole entire world dies again. And again. Careening through memory and language, Parks explores and explodes archetypes of Black America with piercing insight and raucous comedy. A riotous theatrical event, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World AKA the Negro Book of the Dead hums with the heartbeat of improvisational jazz.

The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World AKA the Negro Book of the Dead is generously supported by the Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater.

Venus

By Suzan-Lori Parks

Directed by Lear deBessonet

Begins April 25, 2017 | The Irene Diamond Stage

Leaving her home in southern Africa for a better life, Saartjie Baartman became a star on the 19th Century London freak show circuit for the size of her posterior. This Obie Award-winning play gives vibrant life to the story of Baartman's journey to London, her rise to fame as the "Hottentot Venus" and her eventual love affair with a French scientist. Inspired by the true story of Baartman, Venus is a wild carnival, bursting with humor and heart while examining the paradox of love.

The Red Letter Plays: In the Blood and f-ing A

By Suzan-Lori Parks

Directed by Jo Bonney

Theatre & Dates TBA

This production will be presented as part of the 2017-18 Signature season.

Remixing The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne's seminal masterpiece, The Red Letter Plays tear open notions of gender and hypocrisy with poetic honesty and exhilarating wit. In the Blood's Hester La Negrita is a penniless mother of five condemned by the very men who loved her. f-ing A's Hester Smith is an abortionist, forced to ply her trade to save her own son. Performed in repertory for the first time, with a shared cast and director, the two plays form a thrilling and powerful indictment of the way we live now.

LEGACY PROGRAM

"Master Harold" ... and the boys

Written and Directed by Athol Fugard

Now in performances | The Irene Diamond Stage

In a small South African tea shop in 1950, two black men and a white boy joke and dance together, defying the brutalities of apartheid through their joyous love. But festering issues of family, race, and power are not so easy to ignore, and a single phone call can trigger catastrophe. Winner of the Drama Desk and London Evening Standard Awards for Best Play, "Master Harold" ... and the boys reveals the profound personal consequences of oppression.

"Master Harold" ... and the boys is generously supported by the Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater.

RESIDENCY FIVE

Everybody
(World Premiere)

By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Directed by Lila Neugebauer
Begins January 31, 2017 | The Irene Diamond Stage

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who The New York Times calls "one of this country's most original and illuminating writers," comes back to Signature for the second production of his residency with the world premiere of Everybody. Directed by Lila Neugebauer, this modern riff on one of the oldest plays in the English language promises to be just as unique as Gloria, An Octoroon and the award-winning Signature production of Appropriate.

Everybody is generously supported by the New York State Council on the Arts.

A New Play by Will Eno
(World Premiere)

Begins February 7, 2017 | The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre

From Thom Pain to The Realistic Joneses, Drama Desk and Obie Award-winner Will Eno has proven to be a singular voice in the American theatre, writing plays with a style The New York Times has called "formally inventive, verbally dexterous...and excruciatingly truthful." Eno completes his Signature residency with a world premiere production, which follows the extended Signature runs of Title and Deed and The Open House.

The Antipodes
(World Premiere)

By Annie Baker
Directed by Lila Neugebauer
Begins April 4, 2017 | The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre

Pulitzer Prize-winner Annie Baker, who The New York Times has called "one of the freshest and most talented dramatists to emerge Off Broadway in the past decade," returns for the second production of her Signature residency with a world premiere play, directed by Lila Neugebauer. The Antipodes follows John, her insightful, funny and mysterious first play at Signature, which sold out an extended run and appeared on the Top 10 lists of The New York Times, New York Magazine and Time Magazine, among others.

The Antipodes is generously supported by Catherine Adler.

Additional support for Annie Baker's Residency is generously provided by Jon & NoraLee Sedmak

Special thanks to The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust for supporting the

Residency Five Program. Additional support for Residency Five is provided by Time Warner

Foundation, Inc.

The Residency Five Playwright Award is generously supported by the Genesis Foundation.

About Signature Theatre

Signature Theatre exists to honor and celebrate the playwright. Founded in 1991 by James Houghton, Signature makes an extended commitment to a playwright's body of work, and during this journey, the writer is engaged in every aspect of the creative process. By championing in-depth explorations of a playwright's body of work, Signature delivers an intimate and immersive journey into the playwright's singular vision. In 2014 Signature became the first New York City theatre to receive the Regional Theatre Tony Award.

Signature serves its mission through its permanent home at The Pershing Square Signature Center, a three-theatre facility on West 42nd Street designed by Frank Gehry Architects to host Signature's three distinct playwrights' residencies and foster a cultural community. At the Center, opened in January 2012, Signature continues its founding Playwright-in-Residence model as Residency One, a first-of-its-kind, intensive exploration of a single writer's body of work. Residency Five, the only program of its kind, was launched at the Center to support multiple playwrights as they build bodies of work by guaranteeing each writer three productions over a five-year period. The Legacy Program, launched during Signature's 10th Anniversary, invites writers from both residencies back for productions of premiere or earlier plays.

The Pershing Square Signature Center is a major contribution to New York City's cultural landscape and provides a venue for cultural organizations that supports and encourages collaboration among artists throughout the space. In addition to its three intimate theatres, the Center features a Studio Theatre, rehearsal studio, and a public café, bar and bookstore. Through the Signature Ticket Initiative: A Generation of Access, Signature has also made an unprecedented commitment to making its productions accessible by underwriting the cost of initial run tickets, currently priced at $30, through 2031.

Serving as a model for theatres and performing arts organizations across the country, the Initiative was founded in 2005 and is made possible by lead partner The Pershing Square Foundation. Additional support provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation, Margot Adams, Rhoda Herrick and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Signature has presented entire seasons of the work of Edward Albee, Lee Blessing, Horton Foote, María Irene Fornés, Athol Fugard, A.R. Gurney, John Guare, David Henry Hwang, Bill Irwin, Adrienne Kennedy, Tony Kushner, Romulus Linney, Charles Mee, Arthur Miller, Sam Shepard, Paula Vogel, Naomi Wallace, August Wilson, Lanford Wilson, and a season celebrating the historic Negro Ensemble Company. Suzan-Lori Parks is the current Residency One playwright. Signature's current Residency Five playwrights are Annie Baker, Martha Clarke, Will Eno, Katori Hall, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Kenneth Lonergan and ReGina Taylor. Current Legacy Playwright is Athol Fugard. In addition to the Regional Theatre Tony Award, Signature's productions and its resident writers have been recognized with the Pulitzer Prize, Lucille Lortel Awards, Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards, and AUDELCO Awards, among many other distinctions.

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