Anyone who caught Craig Lucas' The Dying Gaul at the Vineyard Theatre knows the playwright's newest drama, Stranger is no Prelude to a Kiss. In this dark and violent tale of two people who meet on a plane trip from Philadelphia to Seattle, one of the two stars, Kyra Sedgwick or David Strathairn, has a secret - a 15 year prison term for a terrible crime.

Stranger opens its world premiere production at the Vineyard Oct. 17. Performances began Sept. 27 for a run through Nov. 19, a two week extension from the originally announced Nov. 5. How I Learned to Drive's Mark Brokaw directs.

Sedgwick's New York theatre work includes her star turn as Olivia in Lincoln Center's Twelfth Night, a Theatre World Award-winning performance in Ah, Wilderness!, Not Waving and Maids of Honour . In Oleanna, she garnered both the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award and Drama-Logue Award. Sedgwick is also a film actress ("Phenomenon," "Something to Talk About") and is married to filmdom's Kevin Bacon (i.e., zero degrees of separation).

Most recently Off-Broadway in Harold Pinter's Ashes to Ashes, Strathairn's Broadway and Off-Broadway roles have featured Three Sisters, Hapgood, Fen and Blue Plate Special. Also a film actor, he can be seen in "L.A. Confidential," "Simon Birch," "Bob Roberts" and "Passion Fish."

Strangers is Lucas' second drama to play the Vineyard; his The Dying Gaul had a successful world premiere there in 1998. Lucas' other work includes God's Heart, Prelude to a Kiss, "Longtime Companion" and "Reckless." He is currenly at work on This Thing of Darkness with co-writer David Shulner. Also in the cast are David Harbour and Julianne Nicholson.

For ticket information on the Vineyard Theatre, call (212) 353-3366. The Vineyard is located at 108 E. 15th Street.

-- By Christine Ehren