Roundabout Theatre Company has announced the line-up of new works that will make up its 2017–18 Off-Broadway season. The slate includes two commissions from Roundabout Underground alumni Lindsey Ferrentino (Ugly Lies the Bone) and Joshua Harmon, whose play Significant Other debuted at the Off-Broadway theatre in 2015 and will begin previews on Broadway February 14—his will be the second play by an Underground playwright to transfer to Broadway, following Stephen Karam’s Tony-winning The Humans last season.
The 2017-18 Off-Broadway season at the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold & Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre will feature the New York premiere of The Last Match by Anna Ziegler, directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch (September 28–December 24); Amy and the Orphans by Ferrentino, directed by Scott Ellis (February 1–April 22, 2018); and Skintight by Joshua Harmon, directed by Daniel Aukin (June 21–August 26, 2018).
Roundabout’s Underground season in the theatre’s Black Box space will include Jiréh Breon Holder’s previously announced Too Heavy for Your Pocket, which was the recipient of the 2017 Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award. Performance dates and creative team as well as a second production will be announced at a later date.
Here’s how Roundabout outlines the new plays in its upcoming season:
The Last Match
It’s the semifinals of the U.S. Open, and two tennis greats are facing off in the match of their lives. Tim Porter, the aging all-American favorite, wants to prove to the world, his wife and himself that he’s still a champion. Hotheaded rising star Sergei Sergeyev struggles to believe he truly deserves to beat his lifelong hero. Set against the high-stakes backdrop of professional sports, The Last Match serves up a richly theatrical look at what keeps us striving and why.
Amy and the Orphans
After their father’s death, two unhinged siblings reunite with Amy, their movie-loving sister who has Down syndrome. Together, they careen down the Great American Long Island Expressway, navigating strip malls, traffic jams and some serious (and not-so-serious) family drama. An unexpected turn reveals the moment that changed their lives…and the fact that Amy may be the only one who knows her own mind.
Skintight
Reeling from her ex-husband’s engagement to a much younger woman, Jodi Isaac turns to her famous fashion-designer dad for support. Instead, she finds him wrapped up in his West Village townhouse with Trey. Who’s 20. And not necessarily gay. But probably an adult film star. At least, according to Jodi’s son. Who’s also 20. And definitely gay. Skintight assays the nature of love, the power of attraction, and the ways in which a superficial culture persists in teaching its children that all that matters is what’s on the inside.
Too Heavy for Your Pocket
Nashville in the summer of 1961. The Freedom Riders are embarking on a courageous journey into the Deep South. When 20-year-old Bowzie Brandon gives up a life-changing college scholarship to join the movement, he’ll have to convince his loved ones—and himself—that shaping his country's future might be worth jeopardizing his own.
Tickets to the Off-Broadway season will first be made available to subscribers and donors. Visit roundabouttheatre.org or call (212) 719-1300 for more information.
