Samuel Brett Williams' play The Woodpecker, a 2007 project of the (NPC) at the O'Neill in Watford, CT, is the latest to have a staging. Its world premiere will be at the Cherry Lane Theatre in Greenwich Village March 25-April 5.
Six projects from 2007, two from 2006 and one from 2005 are bowing. A range of theatres are producing the world premieres: Manhattan Theatre Club and Second Stage Theatre in New York; The Goodman Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago; Actors Theatre of Louisville; Florida Stage in Manalapan; The Woolly Mammoth Theater in Washington, DC; Round House Theatre in Maryland; and The Magic Theatre in San Francisco.
National Playwrights Conference artistic director Wendy C. Goldberg said in a statement, "This is an important and rich artistic time for us at the National Playwrights Conference. To have nine world premiere productions on the boards in New York and at theatres across the country is a staggering achievement. I feel very proud of this accomplishment and thank the writers and staff for their hard work during their stay with us in Waterford each summer. The O'Neill is indisputably a home for inspiration, reflection and artistic development, and its impact on the landscape of the American theatre is invaluable."
The nine O'Neill projects receiving world-premiere productions this season are:
The Receptionist by Adam Bock (2006 conference) — world premiere, Manhattan Theatre Club, Oct. 12, 2007-Jan. 6, 2008.End Days by Deb Laufer (2007 conference) — world premiere, Florida Stage, Oct. 19-Nov. 25, 2007.The Crowd You're in With by Rebecca Gilman (2007 conference) — world premiere, Magic Theatre, Nov. 10-Dec. 22, 2007.Good Boys and True by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (2007 conference) — world premiere, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Dec. 12, 2007-Feb. 16, 2008, followed by New York City premiere at Second Stage Theatre, April 24-June 8, 2008.The K of D by Laura Schellhardt (2006 conference) — world premiere, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Washington, DC, Jan. 16-Feb. 10, 2008.The Book Club Play by Karen Zacarias (2007 conference) — world premiere, Round House Theatre, Bethesda, MD, Feb. 6-March 2, 2008.Great Falls by Lee Blessing (2005 conference) — world premiere, Actors Theatre of Louisville in the 32nd annual Humana Festival of New American Plays, Feb. 24-March 30, 2008.The Ballad of Emmett Till by Ifa Bayeza (2007 conference) — world premiere, The Goodman Theatre, April 26-June 1, 2008.The Woodpecker by Samuel Brett Williams (2007 conference) — world premiere, Cherry Lane Theatre, March 25-April 5, 2008. Additionally, In the Heights, a 2005 National Music Theater Conference project (music and lyrics, Lin-Manuel Miranda; book, Quiara Alegria Hudes) is currently in previews on Broadway toward a March 14 opening. It follows a 2007 Off-Broadway run.
For more information about the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, visit www.theoneill.org.
