Jon Robin Baitz' searing drama, A Fair Country, which is based on the playwright's personal experiences living as an adolescent in apartheid-era South Africa, will be presented by the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston from Oct. 27- Nov. 26.

Previews for the show begin Oct. 27, with an opening date of Nov. 1.

Huntington artistic director Nicholas Martin and managing director Michael Maso continue their 2000-2001 mainstage season with this story of the Burgess family, comprising American expatriates who "confront both the external injustices of their surroundings and their own internal strife."

A Fair Country is directed by Steppenwolf Theatre artistic associate Anna D. Shapiro (Steppenwolf's Side Man, Three Days of Rain, Wolf Lullaby, The Viewing Room). The show stars Pamela Payton-Wright (Broadway's The Show-Off, Exit the King, The Cherry Orchard, The Crucible, M. Butterfly, The Night of the Iguana, Mourning Becomes Electra), Frank Converse (Broadway's First One Asleep Whistle, Brothers; Lincoln Center revivals of Philadelphia Story, A Streetcar Named Desire) and Matthew Wilkas (Williamstown Theatre Festival's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, Parker). Also featured in the cast are Bob Colonna, Geddeth Smith, Ed Blunt and Kathryn Zamora-Benson.

The design team includes set designer Mark Wendland, costume designer Kärin Kopischke, lighting designer Kevin Adams and sound designer Benjamin Emerson. James Calleri cast the show. The Huntington just concluded a hit run of Sidney Kingsley's social melodrama Dead End. The play—which featured a monumental, awe-inspiring set of a hardscrabble New York City street, plus a section of the East River, and boasted a cast of several dozen—extended one week past its original closing date.

Tickets range from $12-$55. The Huntington Theatre Company is located at 264 Huntington Avenue in Boston. For tickets call (617) 266-0800 or visit www.huntingtontheatre.org.

-- By Murdoch McBride