With the new production, 29th Street Rep — known for its potent productions of gritty plays — ends a two-year hiatus and launches its 20th anniversary season. 29th Street Rep founding member Leo Farley directs.

"Meet Harry Caul, a troubled, guilt-ridden loner and surveillance expert who probes ambiguous clues for both the government and private clients, ending up very much a victim of his own technology and pursuits," according to production notes. "Part Hitchcockian-thriller, part psychological character study, The Conversation is perhaps more timely today than when first introduced in 1974."

The play had a well-reviewed world premiere by another company in Chicago.

29th Street Rep artistic director David Mogentale stars as Harry Caul, a role originated on film by Gene Hackman. The cast also includes founding artistic director Tim Corcoran and ensemble members Amber Gallery, James E. Smith and Thomas Wehrle, as well as guest artists Julianne Carpenter, Jack Dillon, Leigh Feldpausch and Craig Butta.

Farley directed several of 29th Street Rep's most critically acclaimed productions, including Tracers, Charles Bukowski's South of No North (Stories of the Buried Life) and High Priest of California. Adapter Harris lives in Chicago, where she serves as artistic director for the critically acclaimed Pyewacket Theater. She has also worked with Chicago's Steppenwolf and The Hypocrites.

The design team includes Mark Symczak (set), Rebecca Ming (costumes), Stewart Wagner (lights) and Joseph Fosco (sound). The production stage manager is Sabrina Morabito.

Cole co-produced Killer Joe at 29th Street Rep, Off-Broadway (Soho Playhouse), London's West End (Vaudeville) and in Chicago.

Since 2004 associate producer Darren Lee Cole, along with Faith Mulvihill, has owned and operated Off-Broadway's Soho Playhouse.

Opening is April 10 at 8 PM. The performance schedule is Thursday-Monday at 8 PM. For tickets, which are $20, call SmartTix at (212) 868-4444 or on line at www.smarttix.com. For more information visit 29th Street Rep's website, www.29thstreetrep.com.

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Since 1988, 29th Street Rep has produced some of the most intense plays to hit New York City. The original producers of Tracy Letts' hit play Killer Joe, 29th Street Rep has mounted 78 full-scale productions, most notably Rona Munro's Bold Girls, Charles Willeford's critically acclaimed High Priest of California, the sold-out Off-Broadway revival of Sam Shepard's Fool for Love, the long-running cult hit South of No North (based on the short stories of Charles Bukowski), Avenue A, Bobby Supreme and Bible Burlesque (with Edward Norton). With a strong company of actors at its core, 29th Street Rep has gained a reputation for "pushing the artistic envelope, challenging audience expectations and presenting some of the best 'brutal' theatre in New York City," according to company notes.