Hughes to Direct Shanley's Defiance for MTC Season

By Andrew Gans
09 Aug 2005

John Patrick Shanley
John Patrick Shanley
Photo by Aubrey Reuben

Playwright John Patrick Shanley and director Doug Hughes will team up once more for Manhattan Theatre Club. The duo, whose Doubt won both the Pulitzer and Tony, will present Defiance at MTC's Stage I next year.

Previews for the new play will begin Feb. 9, 2006, with an official opening set for Feb. 28.

Defiance, according to production notes, is set "on a United States Marine Corps base in North Carolina in 1971. Two officers, one black and one white, are on a collision course over race, women, and the high cost of doing the right thing. The play is about power, love and responsibility — who has it, who wants it, and who deserves it."

Defiance was given a starry workshop at the Powerhouse Theatre on the grounds of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, last month. The company included Chris Cooper, Dana Delany, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Jeremy Strong, Trevor Long and Chris Bauer. No casting for the MTC production has been announced.

Shanley and Hughes' Doubt premiered at MTC's Stage I during the 2004-2005 season. It later transferred to Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre, where it currently resides. The play won Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Director as well as for actors Cherry Jones and Adriane Lenox.

Subscriptions to the Manhattan Theatre Club season are available by calling (212) 399-3030 or by visiting www.manhattantheatreclub.com.