Working Theatre Presents New Sacasa Play 'King of Shadows'

 Working Theater presents the world premiere of KING OF SHADOWS, a new Off-Broadway play by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, author of GOOD BOYS AND TRUE, BASED ON A TOTALLY TRUE STORY and DARK MATTERS, set to begin previews September 2, prior to its official press opening September 7 at Theater for the New City (155 First Avenue) in Manhattan.
 
Directed by Connie Grappo -- director of TABLETOP, THE MYSTERY PLAYS and HOLD PLEASE and Artistic Director of Working Theater since 2005 -- KING OF SHADOWS centers around Nihar, a 15-year-old homeless runaway selling sex to survive, who claims he's being pursued by supernatural demons. When Jessica, a young social worker, takes him in, he forms a dangerous bond with her teenage sister that threatens everything she values. The famous fog of San Francisco mixes with a fog of fantasy and fear as each try to protect against a danger they don't understand.
 
Please note: KING OF SHADOWS is being produced under an Off-Broadway contract with Actors' Equity.
 
The play co-stars Satya Bhabha (most recently seen Off-Broadway in The New Group's production of Ayub Khan-Din's RAFTA RAFTA), Kat Foster, Sarah Lord, and Richard Short.
 
KING OF SHADOWS has set design by Wilson Chin, lighting design by Jack Mehler, costumes by Emily Pepper, and sound design by M.L. Dogg.
 
Since the company was founded in 1985, Working Theater's mission has been to produce new plays for and about working people. With its firm belief that theater should not be a privilege or luxury, but a staple in people's lives, Working Theater is committed to presenting quality work, with the highest production values at an affordable ticket price; the top ticket price to KING OF SHADOWS is $25, half of the current standard rate for Off-Broadway plays.
 
According to the company's mission statement, "We offer stories that reflect a diverse population of the working majority. We live in a society often polarized by economic, cultural and class differences, and while these differences can sometimes be divisive, they are often the most interesting things about us. We want working people who may not be able to afford commercial theater or who feel that it does not resonate with their lives to make play-going a regular part of their cultural activities."
 
Among the plays the Working Theater has presented are TABLETOP by Rob Ackerman, ASCENSION DAY by Michael Henry Brown, I AM A MAN by OyamO, HOLD PLEASE by Annie Weisman, and last season's OUR DAD IS IN ATLANTIS by Javier Malpica. Noted actors who have appeared at the Working Theater include Jeanine Serralles, Ving Rhames, Andre de Shields, Holly Hunter, Jeremy Webb, Laura Esterman and Brennan Brown.
 
This past spring, playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's GOOD BOYS AND TRUE premiered Off-Broadway at Second Stage. Other plays include THE MUCKLE MAN (City Theatre in Pittsburgh), DARK MATTERS (Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre), BASED ON A TOTATLLY TRUE STORY (Manhattan Theatre Club), THE MYSTERY PLAYS (Yale Rep/Second Stage Theatre), THE VELVET SKY (Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington, D.C.), ROUGH MAGIC (Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, New York), and THE WIERD (an evening of short pulpy plays at Dad's Garage Theatre in Atlanta). His early comedies, GOLDEN AGE and SAY YOU LOVE SATAN, were both nominated for GLAAD Media Awards and have been performed around the country. For Marvel Comics, he is a Harvey Award-winning author, known for his work on the comic books, Marvel Knights 4, Night Crawler, and The Sensational Spiderman. A graduate of Yale School of Drama, he is currently part of the writing staff of HBO's acclaimed series "Big Love" and developed "Howl," a television series about werewolves for the Fox Network.
 
Director Connie Grappo helmed Mr. Aguirre-Sacasa's THE MYSTERY PLAYS in 2004, about which the New York Times raved, "In this production, the director, the designers and cast -- who know how to make you feel hell will break loose any minute -- all conspire to make the playwright's vision irresistible." Ms. Grappo began her association with the Working Theater in 1999 as the director of BELMONT AVENUE SOCIAL CLUB by Bruce Graham. She also directed TABLETOP and DISCONNECT by Rob Ackerman, and HOLD PLEASE by Annie Weisman, before succeeding Bob Arcaro as Artistic Director in 2005. Ms. Grappo received her MFA at Yale School of Drama in 1995 and has since been on the faculty at YSD and Yale Theatre Studies, where she currently teaches acting and directing. Other directing credits include new plays at Second Stage, Yale Rep, Cleveland Playhouse, Westport Playhouse, the WPA, Actors Theatre of Louisville, San Diego Rep, CRT, as well as theaters in Australia, Canada and South Africa.
 
Connie Grappo is the company's Artistic Director; Mark Plesent is Producing Director.
 
Off-Broadway performances of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's KING OF SHADOWS run September 2 through September 28 at Theater for the New City (155 1st Avenue, between 9th and 10th Streets) Tuesdays-Fridays at 8:00pm, Saturdays at 2:00pm and 8:00pm, and Sundays at 7:00pm. Tickets are $25. Union members $23; students and seniors $21. For reservations call SmartTix, 212-868-4444 or visit www.SmartTix.com.
 
For information about Working Theater, visit www.theworkingtheater.org.

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