Atlantic Theater Company has set six titles for its upcoming 2018–2019 Off-Broadway season, featuring four world premieres, a U.S. premiere, and a New York premiere.
Among the lineup is Florian Zeller's The Mother, translated by Christopher Hampton (who has also translated Zeller's The Father and The Lie) and starring Oscar nominee Isabelle Huppert. Additionally, Lynn Nottage, Duncan Sheik, and Susan Birkenhead's musical adaptation of The Secret Life of Bees will receive its official world premiere following previous developmental presentations at Vassar College and New York Stage and Film's Powerhouse Theater.
The season will begin with the world premiere of Donja R. Love's Fireflies, directed by Saheem Ali. The play is the second in Love and Ali's trilogy that begins with Sugar in Our Wounds (premiering next month at Manhattan Theatre Club). Performances will run September 26–November 11 (opening night is set for October 15). Set in the Jim Crow South, it follows a speech writer and her husband, a civil rights leader, whose marriage and fight for justice are put to the test after a church bombing leaves four girls dead.
Marin Ireland will star in the world premiere of Abby Rosebrock's Blue Ridge, directed by Taibi Magar and running December 12–January 27, 2019. The dark comedy centers around a high school teacher who, after lashing out at her unethical boss, is sentenced to a church-sponsored halfway house. Opening night is set for January 7.
The world premiere of Eddie and Dave, written by and featuring ATC's 2017–2018 playwright-in-residence Amy Staats, will follow. Margot Bordelon will direct the gender-bending play, which fictionalizes the rise and fall of an '80s Pasadena rock band through the lens of an out-of-work MTV-VJ. The production will begin January 10, open January 22, and run through February 10.
The Mother, directed by Trip Cullman, will run February 20–April 7 and open March 11. Huppert will star as a matriarch searching for stability after she's left on her own to watch her children grow up and develop their own lives. Hampton's translation premiered in the U.K. with engagements at Bath's Ustinov and London's Tricycle Theatre.
The Secret Life of Bees, featuring a book by Nottage, music by Sheik, and lyrics by Birkenhead, will begin performances May 10. Tony winner Sam Gold directs the musical, based on the novel by Sue Monk Kidd which explores the relationship of Lily (a white teenager), Rosaleen (her Black caregiver) and their pursuit to uncover the mystery of Lily's mother's death. Performances will run May 10 through June 23.
The New York premiere of Carla Ching's Nomad Motel will round out the season May 22–June 23 (opening June 3). The play tells the story of Alix, who bounces between motel rooms as she cares for her brothers in the absence of her mother. She and her classmate Mason, an aspiring songwriter, learn together to survive without sacrificing dreams.
Additional casting and creative team for the six titles will be announced at a later date.
