Abingdon Theatre Co. Launches Anniversary Season with THE GENTLEMAN CALLER

Abingdon Theatre Company (Tony Speciale, Artistic Director; Denise Dickens, Producing Director) will launch its 25th Anniversary main stage season with The Gentleman Caller, the New York premiere of a new play by Philip Dawkins (Charm, Le Switch, The Homosexuals). Directed by Tony Speciale (Unnatural Acts, The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, Harmony), the limited engagement runs May 5 - 26 at the historic Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street, NYC) in Greenwich Village. Tickets are currently on sale to Abingdon subscribers only. Visit abingdontheatre.org or call 212-868-2055 for more information.

Although now regarded as two of history's finest American Playwrights, back in 1944, William Inge and Tennessee Williams hadn't yet experienced anything close to success. The Gentleman Caller takes us back in time, before the Chicago premiere of The Glass Menagerie. Inge, a dissatisfied newspaper critic, invites Williams to his St. Louis apartment for an interview. This sexy, fraught rendezvous sparks a relationship, which radically alters the course of their lives and the American Theatre. Casting and creative team are to be announced.

The Gentleman Caller replaces Abingdon Theatre Company's previously announced production, Margaret and Craig, which has been cancelled due to unanticipated scheduling conflicts.

"The struggle to create while not also destroying the self in the process is one that is, I feel, as vital today as it was in the smack-middle of the last century," says playwright Philip Dawkins. "Tennessee Williams and William Inge have both been such major influences not only to me but to so many others who I count as my mentors and theater-heroes. As a Midwestern playwright myself, I take the responsibility of holding these powerful queer voices from the middle of America as a great and powerful honor. Delving into their lives has been a wonderful and terrifying adventure, and I'm thrilled to continue this adventure with Tony Speciale and Abingdon."

"It is a true honor to be able to include Philip Dawkins' searing new memory play, The Gentleman Caller, in Abingdon's 25th Anniversary Season," says Speciale. "Tennessee Williams has long been one of my favorite playwrights. His manifesto on 'plastic theatre' continues to be a guiding principle in my own work as a director. In true Williams fashion, Dawkins has written a provocative, mythic, erotic boxing match between these two great artists. The play is an exorcism of their inner demons, a meditation on the creative process, and a love letter to the genre they both adored: the theatre."

LISTING INFORMATION:The Gentleman Caller plays May 5 through May 26 at the Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street, NYC). For more information about The Gentleman Caller, season subscriptions and group bookings visit abingdontheatre.org or call 212-868-2055.

ABOUT THE PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

Philip Dawkins (Playwright)plays include Charm (Northlight Theatre-Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work, MCC Theatre), Failure: A Love Story (Victory Gardens Theater), Miss Marx: Or The Involuntary Side Effect of Living(Strawdog Theatre-Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work), The Homosexuals (About Face Theater), Le Switch(About Face Theatre, The Jungle), and The Happiest Place on Earth (Greenhouse Theater/Side Show-Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Solo Performance), as well as the book and lyrics for Dr. Seuss's The Sneetches, the Musical with composer David Mallamud at Children's Theater Company, Minneapolis. His plays, The Burn and The Gentleman Caller(commissioned by Raven Theatre Company) will premier this winter in Chicago at Steppenwolf and Raven Theater Company respectively. Dawkins teaches playwriting at Northwest University, Loyola University Chicago, and through the Victory Gardens ACCESS Program.

Tony Speciale (Director) joined Abingdon Theatre Company as its Artistic Director in October 2015. Abingdon credits: The Boy Who Danced on Air, music by Tim Rosser, book and lyrics by Charlie Sohne; The Mother of Invention by James Lecesne; Jason O'Connell's The Dork Knight; and Stet by Kim Davies. Other credits: Unnatural Acts (CSC-Drama Desk Award nominee, GLAAD Media Award nominee); James Lecesne's The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey (Off-Broadway, National Tour); Harmony, musicby Barry Manilow, book and lyrics by Bruce Sussman (ALLIANCE THEATRE, Ahmanson Theatre); A Midsummer Night's Dream featuring Bebe Neuwirth (CSC); Matthew-Lee Erlbach's Handbook for an American Revolutionary (The Gym at Judson) and Romeo and Juliet (Actors Theatre of Louisville). Tony has developed new work at Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor, The Goodman Theatre's New Stages Festival and Sundance Theatre Lab at Mass MoCA. Upcoming: David Cale's We're Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time (Public Theatre- Under the Radar Festival).