FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JANUARY 9, 2006
From: Chris Boneau/ Jim Byk/ Aaron Meier/ Heath Schwartz
MANHATTAN THEATRE
CLUB
JOHN
PATRICK SHANLEY’S
DEFIANCE
WORLD PREMIERE TO OPEN FEBRUARY 28, 2006
AT NEW YORK CITY CENTER – STAGE I
Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, artistic director; Barry Grove, executive producer) is pleased to announce casting for the world premiere of John Patrick Shanley’s DEFIANCE, to be directed by Doug Hughes.
The cast will feature (in alphabetical order): Chris Bauer (Chaplin White), Stephen Lang (Colonel Littlefield), Trevor Long (Gunney), Margaret Colin (Margaret Littlefield), Jeremy Strong (Private Evan Davis), and Chris Chalk (Captain Lee King).
DEFIANCE is set on a United States Marine Corps base in North Carolina in 1971. Two officers, one black (Chalk) and one white (Lang), are on a collision course over race, women, and the high cost of doing the right thing.
The play is about power, love, and responsibility – who has it, who wants it, and who deserves it.
DEFIANCE is part of an intended trilogy of plays by playwright John Patrick Shanley that began with Doubt.
“Doubt was about the birth of uncertainty
in a person of faith set in a church school I attended in the ‘60s. Shortly
thereafter, the country went through a cultural earthquake. The authority of
most of our institutions was called into question, and a powerful cynicism took
hold. In short, Doubt turned
into DEFIANCE, which is my second play about American hierarchy,” John
Patrick Shanley said, “I feel doubt is an important and valuable exercise, a
hallmark of wisdom. Defiance is a necessary step in the life of an individual
and in the life of a nation, but it is an intermediate step – that’s why there’s
going to be a third play.”
The production begins previews at New York City Center – Stage I (131 West 55th Street) on Thursday, February 9 and opens on Tuesday, February 28.
The design team will feature: John Lee Beatty (Set Design), Catherine Zuber (Costume Design), Pat Collins (Lighting Design), David Van Tieghem (Original Music and Sound Design).
Shanley and Hughes previously collaborated on Doubt, which premiered at New York City Center – Stage I during MTC’s 2004-2005 season. Doubt subsequently transferred to Broadway’s Walter Kerr Theatre, and won the Pulitzer Prize and four Tony Awards, including Best Play and Best Director.
Tickets are $65 and can be reserved by calling CityTix at (212) 581-1212. Group and student rates are available. For group ticket information, call (212) 399-3000 x 134. Student tickets are $25 and are on sale for all performances based on availability on the day of the performance, up to one hour before showtime. Call (212) 581-1212 for further information. MTC at New York City Center is accessible to people with disabilities and is equipped with a hearing augmentation system.
Click Here for More Information on DEFIANCE.
BIOGRAPHIES:
JOHN
PATRICK SHANLEY (Playwright).
John Patrick Shanley is from the Bronx. He was thrown out of St. Helena's
kindergarten. He was banned from St. Anthony's hot lunch program for life. He
was expelled from Cardinal Spellman High School. He was placed on academic
probation by New York University and instructed to appear before a tribunal if
he wished to return. When asked why he had been treated in this way by all these
institutions, he burst into tears and said he had no idea. Then he went in the
United States Marine Corps. He did fine. He's still doing
okay.
DOUG
HUGHES
(Director) received the Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer
Critics Circle Award, the Lucille Lortel Award, and the Callaway Award for his
direction of Doubt. This season, he directed Richard Greenberg’s A
Naked Girl on the Appian Way and the revival of A Touch of the Poet
at Roundabout. He is resident director at MCC Theater, where he has directed
Last Easter, Scattergood, Frozen, and The Grey Zone (Obie
Award and Drama Desk nomination), co-produced Wit and received the
first-ever MCC Award. Recent work in New York includes Engaged; Flesh and
Blood (Callaway Award), The Beard of Avon and A Question of Mercy,
all at NYTW; Othello (with Keith David and Liev Schreiber) at the
Public; John Guare's Lake Hollywood at Signature; and An Experiment
with An Air Pump for MTC. He has directed five productions for the Guthrie,
where he also served as director of artistic planning. Other regional: Long
Wharf; Seattle Rep; LaJolla Playhouse; the Shakespeare Theatre in D.C.; London's
Bush Theatre; Yale Rep; and the McCarter. For his work on Frozen, Hughes
received Tony, Lortel and OCC nominations. He received a special Obie award in
2005 for sustained excellence in theatre.
CHRIS
BAUER (Chaplin White).
Recently starred in the revival of A Streetcar Named Desire for which he
received an Outer Critics Circle nomination. Recent theatre credits include the
Atlantic Theater Company productions of The Night Heron, Hothouse and
Mojo; Refuge at Playwrights Horizons. Chris has performed in many
regional theatres such as Steppenwolf, the Goodman and Yale Repertory. Recent
films include Keane and the upcoming The Ballad of Bettie Paige
and Dead Flowers. Other credits: Face/Off, The Devil’s Advocate,
Flawless, 8MM and Animal Factory. On television Bauer played a
leading role in HBO’s “61*.” He has appeared in several seasons of John Wells’
“Third Watch” and simultaneously starred in the second season of HBO’s “The
Wire” to great critical acclaim. He has been a series regular in the ESPN series
“Tilt,” John Wells’ “Jonny Zero,” and the Showtime movie “Our
Fathers.”
CHRIS CHALK (Captain Lee King).
Theatre credits include: A Matter of Choice; Dutchmasters; The
Children of Hericles; Good; Race, Religion, Politics; Blue
Silence; Songs of Robert; Perfect Party; Bedroom Farce;
and Dragonflies. Film and TV credits include: Carlito’s Way, “Law
& Order,” and “Law & Order: SVU.”
MARGARET
COLIN (Margaret
Littlefield) has previously appeared in MTC’s productions of Sight
Unseen (original Off-Broadway production), John Patrick Shanley’s
Psychopathia Sexualis, and Aristocrats for which she received a
Drama Desk nomination. Broadway: A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Jackie in
Jackie (Theatre World Award). Off-Broadway: Temporary Help, Speaking
in Tongues (RTC), Last Moons, Salome (Actors Studio). Films: First
Daughter, Blue Car, Unfaithful, Independence Day, Devil's Own, True
Believer, The Butcher's Wife, Amos and Andrew, Like Father Like Son, Something
Wild, The Adventures of Sebastian Cole, Three Men and a Baby, Pretty in
Pink. TV: "Time to Say Goodbye," "Hit and Run," "Familiar Stranger"
(Lifetime), "Good Night Sweet Wife," "Wedding Dress," "Swing Vote," "Stranger
Waits," "The Return of Sherlock Holmes." Series: "Now and Again," "Wright
Verdicts," "Chicago Hope," "Sibs," "Leg Work," "Foley Square," "As the World
Turns" (first Margo) and "Edge of Night."
STEPHEN
LANG (Colonel
Littlefield). appeared at Chicago’s
Goodman Theatre in the world premiere of Steve Tesich's The Speed of
Darkness, directed by Robert Falls. The production went on to Broadway,
where Mr. Lang received a Tony nomination for his performance. Also on Broadway,
Mr. Lang created the role of Colonel Jessip in A Few Good Men, appeared
as Happy in Death of a Salesman with Dustin Hoffman, and in Wait
Until Dark opposite Quentin Tarantino. He has performed in major regional
theaters across the country. His many feature film credits include
Tombstone, Gettysburg, Last Exit to Brooklyn, and Gods and
Generals. A longtime member of the Actors Studio, he recently made his
debut as a writer and director in his one-man show Beyond
Glory.
TREVOR LONG (Gunney) previously
appeared in John Patrick Shanley’s Out West at the Lucille Lortel
Theatre. Other theatre credits include: Last Days of Judas Iscariot
and In Arabia We’d All Be Kings, both directed by Phillip Seymour
Hoffman; Stephen Adly Guirgis’s Den of Thieves (New York and the
subsequent West Coast premiere); the New York premiere of Scotch and Water. His
film credits include: Karaoke King, Don Juan DeMarco, Fat
Cats, and Birds in Neutral.
JEREMY STRONG (Private Evan Davis) is making his MTC debut with Defiance. In New York he has appeared in A Matter of Choice (Chashama), Rum & Vodka (Belt Theater), Pearl (Rattlestick Theater), and By The Bier (Cherry Lane Alt.). Through Williamstown’s programs, he has appeared in productions of The Dwarfs, White People, Our Country’s Good, On The Razzle, and A Clockwork Orange. At Yale he appeared in productions of Speed The Plow, American Buffalo, Hughie, and Indian Wants The Bronx. Training includes Williamstown, Steppenwolf Theater Company School, and Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
At the Biltmore Theatre: David Lindsay-Abaire’s RABBIT HOLE
starring Tyne Daly, John Gallagher Jr, Mary Catherine Garrison, Cynthia Nixon,
and John Slattery. Directed by Daniel Sullivan. Previews begin January 12 to
open on Thursday, February 2.
At New York City
Center – Stage II: Nilo Cruz’s BEAUTY OF THE FATHER starring Ritchie
Coster, Oscar Isaac, Priscilla Lopez, Pedro Pascal, & Elizabeth Rodriguez.
Directed by Michael Greif. Opening on Tuesday, January 10
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