Opening is May 24. Casting and creative team will be announced.
According to Roundabout, the comedy-drama "chronicles 20 years in the lives of six friends, from their ambitious collegiate days to their surprising discoveries in the real world. Idealistic Cambridge student Stuart Thorne enlists some of his classmates to help him launch a new literary magazine. With the pursuit of great literature as their common thread, they become lifelong friends. But when damaging secrets crop up and business demands creep in, Stuart is faced with some unexpected decisions."
Roundabout artistic director Todd Haimes said in a statement, "This is Roundabout's first time producing the work of Simon Gray as well as working with the extraordinary Moisés Kaufman. I always look forward to showing our audiences infrequently revived plays, from the cannon of a brilliant playwright like Simon. For Roundabout, it's gratifying to do plays like The Common Pursuit on the Laura Pels stage, where we can explore these hidden gems in an intimate space. This play is beautifully crafted and it showcases incredibly vivid characters, some of the most memorable ones Simon has written. I think audiences who are new to The Common Pursuit will find it captivating and surprising. And I know Moisés' talent and vision will be particularly well-suited for this play."
The Common Pursuit had its American premiere at Long Wharf Theater in 1985. The Off-Broadway production in 1986 ran 352 performances and received the 1987 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play and the 1987 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Play.
Kaufman most recently directed the Broadway productions of Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, 33 Variations and I Am My Own Wife. Kaufman was recently represented Off-Broadway as one of the playwrights of Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays. Playwright Gray (1936-2008) began his writing career with "Colmain" (1963), the first of five novels, all published by Faber. He wrote more than 30 stage plays, including Butley and Otherwise Engaged (which both received Evening Standard Awards for Best Play), Close of Play, The Rear Column, Quartermaine's Terms (winner of eight Obie Awards), Hidden Laughter, The Late Middle Classes (winner of the Barclay's Best Play Award), Japes, The Old Masters (his ninth play to be directed by Harold Pinter) and Little Nell, which premiered at the Theatre Royal Bath in 2007, directed by Peter Hall.
His works of non-fiction are "An Unnatural Pursuit"; "How's That for Telling 'Em, Fat Lady?"; "Fat Chance"; "Enter a Fox"; "The Smoking Diaries"; "The Year of the Jouncer"; "The Last Cigarette"; and "Coda."
The dramatization of his Diaries, The Last Cigarette, co-authored with Hugh Whitemore and directed by Richard Eyre, played in the West End in spring/summer 2009. In 1990 Simon Gray was awarded the BAFTA Writer's Award. He was appointed CBE in the 2005 New Year's Honours for his services to Drama and Literature. Visit www.simongray.org.uk.
The Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre/Laura Pels Theatre is at 111 W. 46th Street.
For more information, visit www.roundabouttheatre.org or call Roundabout Ticket Services (212) 719-1300.
Single tickets will be available to the general public in the winter of 2012.
