By Robert Simonson
09 May 2006

Jill Clayburgh
photo by Aubrey Reuben

Jill Clayburgh, now on the Broadway boards in Barefoot in the Park, has replaced the departing Christine Lahti in the premiere of The Busy World Is Hushed by Keith Bunin at Playwrights Horizons.

Lahti had to withdraw from the production "due to family matters that necessitate her returning to the West Coast," according to the theatre.

Clayburgh ends her run in Barefoot on May 21. Busy World was to have begun previews on May 27. The new dates are: first preview on June 2; opening night on June 25; and closing night on July 9.

Busy World will be Clayburgh's third play this season, after Barefoot and A Naked Girl on the Appian Way.

The play by the author of The Credeaux Canvas and The World Over, both seen at Playwrights Horizons, will be directed by Mark Brokaw. Also in the play are Hamish Linklater and Luke Macfarlane.

"In The Busy World Is Hushed, Hannah (Clayburgh), a minister and bible scholar, finds her faith at odds with that of Thomas, her estranged, wayward son," according to Playwrights Horizons. "But when an inquisitive young writer hired to assist Hannah with her latest publication learns painful secrets from Hannah's past, she spies a risky, unconventional opportunity for reconciliation."

For more information, call (212) 279-4200 or visit www.playwrightshorizons.org.