Keen Company will kick off its upcoming 20th season with a revival of celebrated Irish playwright Brian Friel's Molly Sweeney, followed by the New York premiere of Blues for an Alabama Sky by playwright, novelist, and poet Pearl Cleage.

“In 2000 Keen was born with a belief that there was a place for theatre that was generous in spirit and provoked identification," says Keen Artistic Director Jonathan Silverstein. "Twenty years later I am proud to say the dream founder Carl Forsman began is still relevant and necessary. This year we will mark our 20th Season by producing two plays about the complications of chasing a dream, set in two very different times and places."

Told through three characters onstage at all times, Friel's Molly Sweeney is the story of a woman blind since infancy who is urged on by her husband and doctor to get an operation that will change her life forever.

Performances for the limited Off-Broadway engagement, directed by Silverstein, will begin October 8 and continue through November 16. Opening night is October 23; cast and design team to be announced shortly.

In the new year, Keen Company will present Blues for an Alabama Sky, a New York City-set story of five friends whose lives and passions collide when an innocent newcomer from Alabama arrives in Harlem during the summer of 1930. As the promises of the Harlem Renaissance are being swept away by the Great Depression, the group must navigate changing and challenging times, asking modern questions about survival, aspiration, and opportunity.

Blues for an Alabama Sky will begin February 4, 2020. Performances will continue through March 14, with opening night set for February 18. Cast and design team to be announced.

Season subscriptions are now on sale. Visit Keencompany.org.