Roundabout's Fall "Underground" Play Is Levenson's Language of Trees | Playbill

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News Roundabout's Fall "Underground" Play Is Levenson's Language of Trees Roundabout Theatre Company will produce The Language of Trees, a new play by Steven Levenson, directed by Alex Timbers, as the second production of Roundabout Underground, in the fall.

The initiative was launched in 2007 to introduce and cultivate artists in Roundabout's 62-seat Black Box Theatre. In 2007-08, the intimate space in the depths of the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, at 111 W. 46th Street, was home to the hit, twice-extended production of Stephen Karam's Speech & Debate.

All tickets for Roundabout Underground productions are $20.

The Language of Trees will begin preview performances Oct. 3 and will officially open Oct. 29. This will be a limited engagement.

According to Roundabout, "When an American translator is sent into a U.S. war zone in the Middle East, a friendly neighbor volunteers to help out his wife and young son. As events abroad spiral out of control, the lives of all the characters are turned upside down. The Language of Trees is a boldly theatrical and provocative new play about the fragility of language, the ecology of war and the meaning of neighborliness in an age of terror."

Cast and creative team will be announced at a later date. The mission of Roundabout Underground is "to showcase new plays that will either allow an experienced director to go back to his/her creative roots or give a debut production to an emerging writer or director."

Robyn Goodman (artistic consultant to the Roundabout), who has significant artistic development experience, is curating the initiative "that will be a creative breeding ground for nurturing new talent."

Playwright Levenson's plays include Girl's Day and Almost Stuck. His work has been seen and developed by Roundabout Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New Dramatists, Brown/Trinity Playwrights Repertory Theatre, and Ashland New Plays Festival. Levenson is a member of Youngblood Playwrights Group at EST and Play Group at Ars Nova. He is a graduate of Brown University.

Director Timbers is an Obie Award-winning director and artistic director of Les Freres Corbusier. Recent directing credits include Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Center Theatre Group, L.A.; co-written with Michael Friedman), Gutenberg! The Musical! (Drama Desk nomination - Best Director of a Musical), Hell House (Drama Desk nomination - Unique Theatrical Experience), underground (BAM; International Tour), A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant (Obie Award, New York Theatre Workshop; two Garland Awards including Best Director, Los Angeles), Boozy (also writer), Boom and Dixie's Tupperware Party (both at Ars Nova), andHeddatron. He's currently directing Beyond Therapy for Williamstown Theatre Festival and Bay Street Theatre, as well as developing an original half-hour comedy pilot for 20th Century Fox.

All tickets for The Language of Trees will be issued as general admission passes for first-come, first-served seating on the show date. Performances will play Tuesday through Sunday evenings at 7 PM with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 1:30 PM.

Tickets will be available in August 2008 by calling Roundabout Ticket Services at (212) 719-1300, or by visiting www.roundabouttheatre.org or at the box office.

 
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