The staging, by Harris Yulin, will star Lois Smith as Carrie Watts and Hallie Foote as Jessie Mae Watts.

  The designers will be E. David Cosier (sets); Martin Pakledinaz (costumes); John McKernon (lights); and Fitz Patton (sound).

The Trip to Bountiful, which kicks off the 15th Anniversary Signature Series season, will play Nov. 15-Jan. 8, 2006.

The play concerns Carrie Watts, who "longs to return to her childhood home of Bountiful, TX, where she hasn’t been in 30 years. Despite her failing health, she grows more determined to escape from the tiny Houston apartment she shares with her soft-spoken son and watchful daughter-in-law. Finally she gets her chance to head homeward, and it is the journey of a lifetime."

Smith received Tony nominations for Buried Child and The Grapes of Wrath.  Her theatre career began in 1952 with Time Out for Ginger. Highlights include the starring role in The Young and Beautiful, the original production of Orpheus Descending, and the New York premieres of Beth Henley's Impossible Marriage and Brian Friel's Give Me Your Answer, Do!.  Her film and television credits include "East of Eden," "Five Easy Pieces," "Fried Green Tomatoes," "How to Make an American Quilt," "Twister," "Dead Man Walking," and "Minority Report." Hallie Foote is a past master at interpreting her father's work, having starred in Talking Pictures, Night Seasons, Laura Dennis, The Death of Papa, The Carpetbagger's Children, The Last of the Thortons and The Widow Claire. She also acted in her sister Daisy Foote's play, When They Speak of Rita.

The play was made into a well-received 1985 movie starring Geraldine Page and John Heard. Page won an Oscar for her work.

The original 1953 Broadway production starred Lillian Gish as Carrie and Jo Van Fleet as Jessie. The latter won a Tony Award.