The New York City-based troupe will perform their three-show season at the Clurman Theater in the Theatre Row complex. Artistic director Carl Forsman will helm the latter two works, while Jonathan Silverstein stages the Gurney season opener.
The 2007-2008 season (which marks the 8th year for the company) follows:
"Spanning the century and a single day at the same time," Keen presents this portrait of "20th Century family life – formal, informal, and impossible – in a series of scenes dissecting birthday parties, holidays, breakfasts, affairs, and every imaginable form of American familial relations," according to show notes.
Ernest Hemingway's third wife, Martha Gellhorn, is the focus of this work. "Famous for her eyewitness accounts of the Spanish Civil war, the devastation at Dachau, and the American bombing of Vietnam, the forgotten, still glamorous journalist has returned to London from exile in Kenya. Goaded on by a smart, younger generation of writers to make good on her promise, she sets out on a painful, errant path... and yields an utterly surprising result."
Drawing upon "historical record, including the FBI's relentless surveillance, often illegal, and the White House's infamous secret telephone recordings," this story centers on "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [who] informed his advisors that he intended to play a major role in the anti-war movement, advocating immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Vietnam." The young Keen Company earned a special Drama Desk Award in 2005 "for moving and enlightening audiences with plays that build upon our theatrical heritage." The lauded troupe has produced 17 full-length plays in its seven seasons. Other accolades include five Drama Desk nominations, two Off-Broadway transfers, an Obie and a Drama League Award.
Subscriptions to Keen Company shows at the Clurman Theater, 410 West 42nd Street (between 9th and 10th Ave.), will be available June 1. For tickets, call (212) 279-4200. For more information visit keencompany.org.
