La MaMa Presents Paul David Young's ALL MY FATHERS

La MaMa is proud to present the world premiere of All My Fathers, a new tragicomedy by Paul David Young (Faust 3: The Turd Coming, or The Fart of the Deal; Clown Play; In the Summer Pavilion) that centers on the life-changing declaration by Young's elderly mother that he is the bastard son of the family pediatrician. This surreal, seemingly scripted disclosure instantly rewrites the playwright's devoutly Christian, Southern upbringing. Young, whose life had suddenly turned hyperbolically dramatic, incorporates text from both obscure and well-known family plays such as The Seagull, Oedipus, Well, The Strange Discovery, and All My Sons. Directed by Obie-winner Evan Yionoulis (He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box, Ohio State Murders), All My Fathers runs October 3-20 at La MaMa Downstairs (66 E 4th St) with an opening set for October 6. All My Fathers is produced in association with Tony-winner Deborah Green (Hadestown).

Young, who won the Kennedy Center's Paula Vogel Playwriting Award in 2009, has created a body of work that pairs an experimental approach to storytelling and language with an emotionally rich experience for audiences. His work spans art gallery environments, like MoMA PS1, to Off-Off Broadway. All My Fathers is Young's most autobiographical work to date, yet the text has been artfully assembled from existing literature.

"When my life suddenly became a play, I knew the only way I could make sense of it all was through the communal experience of theater," says Young. "My work has always had a strong political and social point of view. In All My Fathers, I'm using these bizarre events in my own life to explore the ideas of family and fatherhood alongside the charade of conservative Christianity in the South."

The cast for All My Fathers will be Richard Gallagher* (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) as David, Brian Hastert* (Tectonic Theatre Project's Uncommon Sense, The TEAM's Mission Drift) as Dr. Woodman, Deborah Hedwall* (Sight Unseen, The Fall to Earth ) as Regina, and Tony nominee Jonathan Hogan*(As Is, Burn This) as Bill. All My Fathers is an Equity Approved Showcase. *These actors appear courtesy of the Actor's Equity Association.

The distinguished creative team includes two-time Tony winner Donald Holder (lighting design), Ao Li (set design), Teresa Snider-Stein (costume design), and Melissa Friedling (video and sound design).

Twelve performances of All My Fathers will take place October 3-20 at La MaMa Downstairs, located at 66 E 4th Street. Critics are welcome as of October 4 for an opening on Sunday, October 6. General admission tickets, which are priced at $30 ($25 students/seniors) plus $1 facility fee, are available at lamama.org and by calling OvationTix at 212-352-3101. The first ten tickets to every performance are available for $10. The anticipated running time is 90 minutes with no intermission.

Talkbacks will be held following select performances. On Friday, October 4, painter Jane Fine discusses her 2018 discovery of paternal identity, which informed her exhibition at Pierogi Gallery in New York. On Sunday, October 6, Prof. Nara B. Milanich, author of Paternity: The Elusive Quest for the Father(Harvard University Press: Cambridge, Mass., 2019) discusses her study of the social, cultural, and political nature of paternity and the evolution of science in the pursuit of the paternal mystery.

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