Kicker plays at the Connelly Theatre. Jonathan Fielding, Juliet Gowing, Dalane Mason, Liam Mitchell, Laura Napoli, Matt Pepper and James Lloyd Reynolds will star in the production, which ends its limited engagement June 25.
Kicker looks at the seldom-examined world of "the guy with the famous person." The story concerns Michael Gray (Pepper), a seasoned arts journalist who writes celebrates profiles for a Vanity Fair-like publication. Experienced, smart and jaded, Gray is nonetheless taken aback when a sought-after interview with a vaunted novelist (Reynolds) suddenly exposes all the hypocrisies and paradoxes of his chosen profession and the role it plays in the greater celebrity culture.
Pepper acted last season in Rattlestick's critically acclaimed Boise and will be seen in the upcoming season of "The Sopranos." Reynolds acted earlier this season in Christopher Shinn's On the Mountain at Playwrights Horizons.
Napoli has worked at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, American Repertory Theatre and the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre. Fielding appeared in the Off-Broadway productions Leonce and Lena and The True History of Julia Pastrana. Gowing's many Boston credits include Robert Simonson's Cafe Society (in which she acted with Napoli) and Scotland Road. Mason's credits include Tartuffe, Floyd Collins and Falsettoland. Mitchell has many Off-Broadway and film credits, including "Wide Awake," "Philadelphia" and Bassa Zheleznova and Blessings at HB Playwrights.
Designing Kicker are Sandra Goldmark (costumes), Anne Keeney (sets) and Cat Tate (lighting). Grant Denney is assistant director and associate producer. Kelly Shaffer is stage manager. Kicker is produced by Michael Hoch.
Hughes, a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, has directed up and down the eastern seaboard, most often working in the Boston area, including stints at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre. His work You've Never Done Anything Unforgivable played the New York International Fringe Festival in 2004.
Robert Simonson's plays include Cafe Society, Which One's Yours, Wittenberg, Emotional Correctness, Some Friend and Napkin. He is also the author of two collections of theatre profiles: "On Broadway, Men Still Wear Hats" and "Role of a Lifetime." Simonson is the senior editor for Playbill.com.
Kicker will play June 9-13, June 15-19 and June 22-25 at the Connelly Theatre, which is located at 220 East 4th Street. Tickets, priced at $15, are available by calling (212) 868-4444 or by visiting www.smarttix.com.
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Triptych Theatre, founded in 2004, creates, produces and promotes plays "that challenge our everyday perceptions of social norms and expose the invisible threads that hold our culture together." Visit www.triptychtheatre.com for more information.
