Trip Cullman (Dog Sees God, The Wooden Breeks) directs the work that began previews Nov. 10 for a run through Dec. 22.

"In a house at the end of a cornfield, something almost beyond belief is happening to the Cleary family. A woman disappears, then returns talking of otherworldly beings," reads show materials. "Is she lying? Or are even darker forces at work, threatening to destroy a family already on the brink of falling apart?"

Birney (Stuff Happens, Pen, Bug) is featured in the ensemble with Chatwin ("War of the Worlds," "Lost"), Cullen (Cobb, Bug) and Marvel (Seascape, Hedda Gabler).

The design team includes Wilson Chin (sets), Matt Richards (lights), Katherine Roth (costumes) and Shane Rettig (sound). Michael Friedman provides original music for the production. Ellen Emily Roberts serves as production stage manager.

Aguirre-Sacasa's Dark Matters was announced to play Rattlestick last season but was postponed for the downtown company's current lineup. The playwright was busy last season with the Off-Broadway run of his Based on a Totally True Story at the Manhattan Theatre Club. Other works include The Muckle Man, The Mystery Plays, Rough Magic, The Weird and The Velvet Sky. Lucy Thurber's Stay will end the new season in a production directed by Jackson Gay (The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow). The work will play a March-April 2007 run.

For tickets to Dark Matters at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place (between West 11th and Perry St.), call (212) 868-4444. For more information, visit www.rattlestick.org.