The production, originally scheduled run through March 15 at the 75-seat downtown theatre, recently extended through April 19 prior to its first preview. Opening night is set for March 18.

O Jerusalem centers around an American State Department official who becomes entangled in Middle Eastern politics before and after Sept. 11, 2001. Along the way, the protagonist encounters a Palestinian woman from his past.

Busy director Jim Simpson (The Guys for stage and film, MCC's Intrigue With Faye) will helm the new work by Gurney. The cast includes Stephen Rowe (The Goat), Priscilla Shanks (Bermuda Avenue Triangle), Rita Wolf (Homebody/Kabul), Mercedes Herrero (The Laramie Project) and Chaz Mena.

The design team includes Kyle Chepulis (sets, lights), Sarah Beers (costumes) and Lindsay Jones (sound, original music).

Gurney, who received the 1994 Lucille Lortel for his body of work, has continued to prove prolific. His many works include Love Letters, The Fourth Wall, Far East, Scenes from American Life, Children, The Dining Room, The Middle Ages, Richard Cory, The Golden Age, What I Did Last Summer, The Wayside Motor Inn, Sweet Sue, The Perfect Party, Another Antigone, The Cocktail Hour, The Snow Ball, The Old Boy, Later Life, A Cheever Evening, Sylvia, Overtime, Let's Do It (a Cole Porter musical), Darlene and the Guest Lecturer and Ancestral Voices. Tickets can be purchased by calling The Flea Theatre box office, 41 White St., at (212) 226-2407. For more information, visit The Flea's website at www.theflea.org.