"The Faculty Room stood out with its dynamic writing when it premiered at the Humana Festival of New Plays," Woolly Mammoth artistic director Howard Shalwitz said in a statement. "Bridget has such a great ear for sharp, fast-paced dialogue which really makes her characters come to life. The play combines the most appalling behavior with a deep longing for love and transcendence, and the contrast creates incredible tension, humor, and surprise. It's very exciting for Woolly to be the home for the second production of The Faculty Room, giving Bridget a chance to hone the script further before launching it to other theatres around the country."

Opening is June 11. Shalwitz directs the production.

In the play, Carpenter explores the darker side of high school life "from the inside of that mythic room, the teacher's lounge, with English teacher Adam (Ethan Bowen), drama teacher Zoe (Megan Anderson) and ethics teacher Bill (Michael Willis), along with mysterious new World History teacher Carver (Michael Russotto), all taunted by the disembodied voice of Principal Dennis on the P.A. system," according to Woolly Mammoth. "Dedicated yet desperate, inspired yet burnt out, hateful yet oh-so-loving — the teachers of Madison Feury High are a bundle of contradictions in Carpenter's rich portrait. A funny and caustic look at how truly f*@ked up the relationships between teachers and students can get, The Faculty Room erupts with gunshots, desperate longing and a growing wave of spiritual fanaticism."

Carpenter is the award-winning author of numerous plays including Fall, Typhoid Mary and The Death of the Father of Psychoanalysis (& Anna) among others.

The Faculty Room received the Kesselring Prize. Fall, a play about a young girl forced to attend a summer camp for swing dancing with her parents, received the 2000 Susan Smith Blackburn Award and has been published in "Women Playwrights: Best of 1999" (Smith & Kraus). Typhoid Mary, a story of the infamous immigrant cook, was awarded the 1997 Princess Grace Award. And The Death of the Father of Psychoanalysis (& Anna), a meditation on Anna Freud, won the Clauder Competition and had two sold-out runs at Shakespeare & Company in Massachusetts in 1996 and 1997. Her latest play, Up, received its world premiere at Alaska's Perseverance Theatre and opened the 2006 season at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

The creative team for The Faculty Room includes Robin Stapley (set design), Melanie Clark (costume design), Jay A. Herzog (lighting design), Michael Kraskin (sound design), Jennifer Sheetz (properties) and John Gurski (fight choreographer).

Woolly Mammoth is located at 641 D Street, NW (7th & D).

For more information, call (202) 393-3939 or visit www.woollymammoth.net.