Previously announced to kick off the season, the New York premiere of Grace will now play in the second slot, Jan. 23-March 8, 2008. The production of Spain will now begin the line-up, running Aug. 29-Oct. 20. No reason for the shift was given.
The company's first-ever musical, The Black Suits — by Joe Iconis and Robert Maddock — will run May 14-July 5, 2008. All shows play at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.
According to a previous release, Spain centers on a woman named "Barbara [who], reeling from a recent divorce, retreats into her very active imagination and there meets, of all things, a sexy Conquistador. Together, they embark on a fanciful journey to a country she has long dreamed of visiting."
Spain was previously performed at the 2006 Summer Play Festival and at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre, among other venues. Knable's other plays include Saltimbanques, True and Solid Ground and The Travesty of Hamlet.
In Grace, as show notes reveal, "When noted scientist Grace Friedman learns that her son Tom has decided to become a Christian minister, she is forced to confront the meaning of both her atheist convictions and maternal impulses. Tom's father and pregnant girlfriend are caught in the cross-fire between mother and son." The work, performed at London's Soho Theatre in 2006, is written by an intriguing pair of writers. Grayling is a Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London, and is known for engaging with contemporary issues and making philosophy understandable to lay readers, having written a column in The Guardian called "The Last Word." Gordon has served as artistic director of the Gate Theatre and as associate director at the National Theatre under Trevor Nunn, directing the company's Transformations season.
Iconis and Maddock are both recipients of the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Award. Press notes describe their musical, The Black Suits, as such: "Haunted by the prospect of a dead-end life in a working-class Long Island suburb, Chris decides to push forward with his dream. He relentlessly rehearses his band in the garage with the goal of a breakthrough from hopelessness to fame and escape. Problem is…nobody in the group wants it as much as he does."
The MCC 2007-08 season now lines up as follows:
Spain
By Jim Knable
Aug. 29-Oct. 20
Grace
By Mick Gordon and AC Grayling
Jan. 23-March 8, 200
The Black Suits
By Joe Iconis and Robert Maddock
May 14-July 5, 2008
MCC currently ends its 2006-07 season with the world premiere of Neil LaBute's In a Dark Dark House (recently extended through July 7) at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Carolyn Cantor directs Ron Livingston, Louisa Krause and Frederick Weller in the work.
Tickets to MCC shows at The Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher Street, can be purchased by calling (212) 279-4200 or online at mcctheater.com.
