The previously announced Jayne Houdyshell (Well, Wicked) is no longer available for this production.

Directed by Pam MacKinnon, A Delicate Balance will open Feb. 12, 2009, at Arena Stage's temporary home in Crystal City in Arlington, VA. Previews begin Feb. 6. It plays to March 15, 2009.

The creative team includes set designer Todd Rosenthal, costume designer Ilona Somogyi, light designer Allen Lee Hughes, sound designer Timothy Thompson and stage manager Martha Knight.

Chalfant is a Tony Award nominee for Angels in America and an Obie winner for Wit and Talking Heads.

McLaughlin appeared in Broadway's Angels in America and Off-Broadway's String of Pearls, Blue Window, A Bright Room Called Day and The Bacchae. Beaver's credits include Broadway's Henry IV (Lincoln Center Theater) and The Last Night of Ballyhoo (Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor).

Harting (Julia) appeared in Dead Man's Cell Phone (Playwrights Horizons); Passion Play, a cycle (Arena Stage) and Eurydice (Second Stage).

Hedman (Edna) appeared in Miss Nelson Is Missing! (Imagination Stage); A Woman of No Importance (Shakespeare Theatre Company) and The Women, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Arena Stage).

Slaughter (Harry) has played in Gross Indecency (Studio Theatre), Scenes from an Execution (Blue Light Company, Off-Broadway), A Midsummer Night's Dream and Stand Up Tragedy (Arena).

Here's how Arena bills the play: "Meet Agnes (Chalfant) and Tobias (Beaver), a retired married couple living in a suburban neighborhood with Claire (McLaughlin), Agnes' alcoholic sister. When the couple's adult daughter comes home after her fourth failed marriage and two friends move in unexpectedly, the 'delicate balance' of their family life begins to topple. As bitter family rivalries play out over two evenings' cocktails, Albee's sharp and witty dialogue cuts straight to the heart. Agnes and Tobias are challenged to the core in this moving, caustically funny masterpiece."

For more information visit www.arenastage.org.