The ubiquitous playwright and director Richard Maxwell will bring his latest work, Showy Lady Slipper, to P.S. 122 beginning Oct. 14, for an opening on Oct. 24 and a run through Nov. 14.

Maxwell has arguably been the Off-Off-Broadway theatre presence of 1999. His play House was presented at P.S. 122 late last year to wide acclaim, going on to win an Obie last spring. The production was quickly followed by Soho Rep's staging of Cowboys & Indians. Now, less than a year since last taking up residence in P.S. 122, Maxwell is back with Slipper, his latest slice of absurdist, eerily deadpan satire, a play, in the author's words, about "talking with no clear objective."

Maxwell said he got the idea from hearing a pair of women talk on a subway in an animated, stream-of-consciousness manner. Afterwards, he began to think about the differences between the way men and women communicate, and how men -- Maxwell included -- almost never enter conversation unless they have a pointed goal. "[I thought], wouldn't it be interesting to include this somehow in a play," he said. "With Showy Lady Slipper, I have taken on this seemingly inconsonant idea."

The cast features Jim Fletcher, Jean Ann Garrish, Libby Samara and Ashley Turba.

For information, call (212) 477-5288 or visit www.ps122.org. -- By Robert Simonson