By Robert Simonson
25 Feb 2003

Arthur Laurents' semi-autobiographical new play, 2 Lives, will have its premiere at the Lyric Stage of Boston, March 14, in a production directed by Nicholas Martin.

The plays stars Tom Aldredge, Elizabeth Wilson and Cigdem Onat. Martin told Playbill On-Line that the aim is to bring 2 Lives to Lincoln Center Theater in July 2004. Martin directed Laurents' best-known play, The Time of the Cuckoo, a few seasons back. Onat made a splash in that production playing the live-and-let-live proprietress of a Venetian villa.

The production is in association with Huntington Theatre Company, where Martin is artistic director. It runs through April 19.

Aldredge is a stage veteran of a few decades' standing. Prominent roles have included the original Into the Woods and Passion, Arthur Miller's The Last Yankee, The Little Foxes opposite Elizabeth Taylor and Sticks and Bones.

Wilson is as experienced as Aldredge. She also co-starred with Aldredge in Sticks and Bones, for which she won a Tony Award in 1972. Subsequent Broadway credits include Waiting in the Wings, Morning's at Seven and A Delicate Balance.

2 Lives is roughly based on the lives of Laurents and his longtime romantic partner. In the story, a 72-year-old playwright's work is suddenly sought for Broadway. The resulting flow of inspiration is cut short when his lover of 35 years dies.

After a long period of relative dormancy as a playwright, Laurent has burst force in recent years with a flurry of new works, including Big Potato, Venecia, Claudia Lazlo and The Vibrator. Several of these were produced at the George Street Playhouse. Aldredge and Wilson starred in The Vibrator.