The red hot Drama Dept.'s latest offering, Frank Pugliese's Hope Is the Thing with Feathers, will begin performances Nov. 11 at the Greenwich House Theatre, under the direction of Randolph Curtis Rand.

The play is about three couples from three generations whose lives intertwine, and is the first venture in a collaboration between Drama Dept. and Fine Line/New Line Cinema.

Feathers will be only the second original play proffered by the company, after Douglas Carter Beane's successful As Bees in Honey Drown. The troupe's other mountings have all been carefully chosen and sometimes idiosyncratic revivals, such as As Thousands Cheer, June Moon, Uncle Tom's Cabin and Kingdom of Earth. June, along with Bees, transferred to an extended run Off-Broadway.

Rand previously directed the Dept.'s Uncle Tom's Cabin. Both he and Pugliese (Aven `U Boys) are company members. No cast has been announced for Feathers.

Feathers will run Nov. 11-22, take the Thanksgiving week off, and then resume performances for one more week. Tickets are not yet on sale. -- By Robert Simonson