Kicker will begin performances June 9 at the Connelly Theatre. Jonathan Fielding, Juliet Gowing, Dalane Mason, Laura Napoli, Matt Pepper and James Lloyd Reynolds will star in the production, which ends its limited engagement June 25.

Pepper was seen last season in Rattlestick's critically acclaimed Boise. Reynolds, meanwhile, acted earlier this season in On the Mountain at Playwrights Horizons.

Hughes, a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, has directed up and down the eastern seaboard, most often working in the Boston area, including stints at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre. His work You've Never Done Anything Unforgivable played the New York International Fringe Festival in 2004.

Kicker, according to production notes, "takes a tragicomic look at today's pop-star idol worship from the inside out, as entertainment journalist Michael Gray (Pepper) has the interview of his life with a modern Ernest Hemingway (Reynolds), only to find it all a sham. Gray struggles to find value and meaning in a profession where beauty and luck are all that's needed to be a star."

Robert Simonson's plays include Cafe Society, Which One's Yours, Wittenberg, Emotional Correctness, Some Friend and Napkin. He is also the author of two collections of theatre profiles: "On Broadway, Men Still Wear Hats" and "Role of a Lifetime." Simonson is the senior editor for Playbill.com. Kicker will play June 9-13, June 15-19 and June 22-25 at the Connelly Theatre, which is located at 220 East 4th Street. Tickets, priced at $15, are available by calling (212) 868-4444 or by visiting www.smarttix.com.

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Triptych Theatre, founded in 2004, creates, produces and promotes plays "that challenge our everyday perceptions of social norms and expose the invisible threads that hold our culture together." Visit www.triptychtheatre.com for more information.