Asolo Rep Continues 2013-14 Season 4000 MILES, 4/2-27
Asolo Rep continues its 2013-2014 season and its celebration of the American family with Amy Herzog's soulful inter-generational play 4000 MILES, a 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist and 2012 Obie Award winner for Best New Play. Directed by Tea Alagi, previews will be April 2 - 3, opening night will be April 4 at 8pm and the play will run through April 27 in the Historic Asolo Theater.
Leo, a 21-year-old, laid-back hippie, and his 91-year-old, Jewish, old-school liberal grandma, Vera, are 70 years apart in age but find common ground in this smart comedy/drama. After a 4,000 mile cross-country bicycling trip, Leo unexpectedly shows up at his grandma's rent-controlled Greenwich Village apartment in the middle of the night with his bike, a backpack and no plan for his future. While he plans to crash for the night, he stays for weeks and, as roommates, Leo and Vera share their polarizing views on love, government, technology, life and family. Leo encourages Vera to venture outside of the apartment she rarely leaves, and Vera challenges Leo to reevaluate his perspective on the world and the people he loves most. As their relationship deepens, this endearing odd couple's friendship evolves into an extraordinary bond.
"As a parent, there is a particular structure that one must follow, but as a grandparent there is this wonderfully freeing gap. 4000 MILES spotlights and celebrates that special connection that occurs within that generational gap," said Tea Alagi?, director of 4000 MILES. "I'm really looking forward to working with Vera, who is actually based on playwright Herzog's own grandma, and Leo, who is so seemingly different from his grandma at the start of the play. That contrast in characters is a director's dream." The play premiered at the Duke on 42nd Street in New York as part of the Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 Steinberg New Works Program. 4000 MILES had its off-Broadway premiere at the Lincoln Center Theater's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater in April 2012. The play continues the second season of Asolo Rep's American Character Project, a five-year examination of this country and its people. The generations that separate Leo and Vera, and their ability to come together regardless of their vastly different backgrounds, exemplify the heart of the American spirit. Tickets are available by visiting www.asolorep.org, going to the Asolo Rep Box Office, located in the lobby of the theatre, or by calling 941.351.8000 or 800.361.8388.
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