Hayley Finn Makes Theater J Directoral Debut With THIS MUCH I KNOW

Beginning on January 31 and running through February 25, 2024, Theater J brings This Much I Know to the stage. Written by the highly acclaimed playwright Jonathan Spector, This Much I Know will be directed by Theater J Artistic Director, Hayley Finn, making her directorial debut for the company. Press night for the play will be Monday, February 5th. 

 

Winner of the 2023 Theatre Bay Area Will Glickman Award for best new play premiere, This Much I Know is centered around a psychology professor whose marriage fractures, sparking a theatrical study of three characters as they become entangled in a search for self-discovery. With inspiration from the research of Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, the characters search for answers in the science of decision-making. They learn that, in Kahneman's words, thinking can be “fast or slow,” emotional or deliberate, drive-like and intuitive, or calculated. Part mystery, part love story, part philosophical quest, This Much I Know spins our axis of belief and understanding. 

 

The three-person cast for This Much I Know includes Firdous Bamji as A. Lukesh. Bamji, who apprenticed at Shakespeare Theater Company, and has had an extremely successful acting career, starring in roles in plays by Tom Stoppard and Tony Kushner and having appeared in films such as The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and The War Within (for which he received an Independent Spirit Award). Dani Stoller, one of Washington, DC's most accomplished actresses and playwrights will play the part of B. Natalya. A Helen Hayes Award-winner, previous credits include Ragtime at Signature Theatre, As You Like It at Folger Theatre, The Crucible at Olney Theatre, Hair at Keegan Theatre, and Carrie at Studio Theatre among many others. The cast is rounded out by Ethan J. Miller who will play the role of C. Harold. Miller is currently based in New York City. His acting career began at age 13 in the play Gypsy at Signature Theater. He has recently been cast in several plays at 1st Stage Theater including The Chosen, The Last Match and Swimming with Whales. 

 

Oakland, California Playwright Jonathan Spector is best known for his play Eureka Day, which was recently seen at London's Old Vic Theater, starring Helen Hunt. That production was nominated for a WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Play, and a 'Top Ten Show of The Year' in the Spectator Magazine. Spector's DC connections run deep – he interned with Theater J near the start of his theatrical career, and was last seen in DC during a 2019 production of Eureka Day at Mosaic Theater Company. Theater J's production of This Much I Know will be the play's East Coast premiere.  

 

Director Hayley Finn is an accomplished director and producer with over twenty-five years of experience. Finn has directed nationally and internationally including at Cherry Lane Theatre, Curious Theatre Company, Edinburgh Fringe, Ellis Island, Guthrie Theatre, HERE Arts Center, History Theatre, Flea Theater, The Kitchen, Labyrinth Theater Company, Marin Theater Company, New Dramatists, O'Neill Theater Center, Pillsbury House, People's Light, Public Theater, Playwrights' Horizons, Red Eye Theater, South Coast Repertory Theater, and the Nine Gates Festival in Prague. 

 

To purchase tickets for This Much I Know, please visit theaterj.org or call the ticket office at 202-777-3210. Single ticket prices for regular tickets start at $49. Discount tickets are available for groups of 8+, EDCJCC members, preview performances, students, educators, military personnel and U.S. Veterans. $5 Community Access Tickets are available to individuals who receive government assistance through state-issued EBT cards (EBT is not accepted as a form of payment, only as proof of status).  

 

Theater J is a nationally-renowned, professional theater that celebrates, explores, and struggles with the complexities and nuances of both the Jewish experience and the universal human condition. Our work illuminates and examines ethical questions of our time, inter-cultural experiences that parallel our own, and the changing landscape of Jewish identities. As the nation's largest and most prominent Jewish theater, we aim to preserve and expand a rich Jewish theatrical tradition and to create community and commonality through theater-going experiences.  

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