Playwright Thompson, known for his acting roles in Broadway's Death of a Salesman and The Heiress, is "writing about sports agents and professional athletes, but it's about people trying achieve greatness in their lives and failing to have it — it's universal," director Jenn Thompson previously told Playbill.com, when the play had an exploratory reading in 2003.

Big Doolie was a finalist in the O'Neill Playwrights Conference. It's gone through revisions since its first 2003 reading.

The play focuses on Marty Futch, a middle-aged sports agent who reps mediocre talent and wants to be a Big Doolie — a big cheese, a contender, part of the big leagues. The difference between Futch and the people in his world is that he happens to have a heart, Jenn Thompson said.

The April 7 reading at Abingdon Theatre Company (312 W. 36th Street, First Floor) includes Tim Artz, Viki Boyle, Karl Kenzler, Stephen Kunken, Evan Thompson, Peterson Townsend and Geoffrey Wade.

Richard Thompson's previous play, Hunting Humans, won five Drama Logue Awards for its Los Angeles staging and was seen Off-Broadway and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Director Jenn Thompson, no relation to the playwright, is a producing partner for River Rep, which mounts a summer season of plays at Ivoryton Playhouse in Connecticut. She is also a member of the acting company TACT (The Actors Company Theatre).

For more information, visit www.bigdoolie.com.