By Ernio Hernandez
08 Dec 2009

Kathleen Chalfant
photo by Aubrey Reuben

Kathleen Chalfant joins Rosemarie DeWitt in the cast of MCC Theater's upcoming Off-Broadway presentation of Beth Henley's Family Week. Jonathan Demme directs.

Previews begin April 7, 2010 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre toward an April 26 opening night. The run is scheduled through May 23.

"A year after the death of her son, Claire checks into a recovery center in the desert, searching for a way to cope," reads show notes. "When her mother, daughter and sister arrive to participate in 'family week,' long-dormant traumas collide with recent tragedies in surprisingly comical, shocking and deeply moving ways. United in this family struggle, the women rage and reach out in an effort to reconcile their love with the way things are."

Demme ("Silence of the Lambs") makes his theatrical debut directing the work by Pulitzer Prize winner Henley (Crimes of the Heart). Chalfant and DeWitt (Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, "Rachel Getting Married") will appear with two actors yet to be announced. (In Transit's Sarah Jones was previously mentioned to appear in the work, but had to withdraw from the production due a scheduling conflict.)

Chalfant has appeared on Broadway in Angels in America, Racing Demon, Dance With Me and Off-Broadway in Wit, Dead Man's Cell Phone, Nine Armenians, Henry V, The Vagina Monologues, Endgame and more. She has also appeared in the films "Duplicity," "Kinsey," "The Laramie Project," "Bob Roberts," and on television's "Rescue Me" and "The Guardian."

MCC will first present the American premiere of Alexi Kaye Campbell's The Pride (Jan. 27-March 14, 2010). Joe Mantello (Take Me Out, Wicked) will direct the production featuring Hugh Dancy, Adam James, Andrea Riseborough and Ben Whishaw.

Tickets to MCC Theatre's shows at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher Street, are currently available by subscription at www.mcctheater.org.