Off-Broadway's Atlantic Theater Company has unveiled its 2019–2020 season. Joining the previously reported musical adaptation of Sarah Silverman's Bedwetter will be Alice Birch's London hit, Anatomy of a Suicide, and world premieres from Stephen Adly Guirgis, Eboni Booth, Ethan Coen, and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child writer Jack Thorne.
Kicking off the season in the fall will be Tony winner Thorne's play Sunday, directed by Dance Nation's Lee Sunday Evans. In the new play, friends gather for a book group, anxious to prove their intellectual worth, but that anxiety gets the better of any actual discussion as emotional truths come pouring out. Performances will run September 5–October 13 in the Linda Gross theatre.
Next up on the Linda Gross stage will be the world premiere co-production of Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven from Pulitzer Prize winner Guirgis (co-presented with LAByrinth Theater Company). John Ortiz directs the new play about the harrowing, humorous, and heartbreaking inner workings of a women’s halfway house in New York City. Performances will run November 14–December 22.
In the new year Atlantic will present Booth's playwriting debut, Paris in its Stage 2 space, directed by Knud Adams. The story of one of the only Black people living in Paris, Vermont, the play is about invisibility, being underpaid, and how it feels to work on your feet for ten hours a day. Performances will run January 8– February 9, 2020.
The first production of the new year in the Linda Gross will be Birch's Anatomy of a Suicide. Winner of the 2018 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the play depicts three generations of women whose stories play out simultaneously. Obie Award winner Lileana Blain-Cruz (Marys Seacole) will helm the U.S. premiere, January 30–March 15.
In the spring, Atlantic will present the musical adaptation of Silverman's bestselling memoir Bedwetter, featuring a book by Admissions playwright Joshua Harmon and Silverman, lyrics by Adam Schlesinger and Silverman, and music by Schlesinger. A full creative team to be announced; performances will run May 9–June 28 in the Linda Gross.
Also in the spring, Atlantic will team up with Center Theatre Group to present the world premiere of one-act plays—taking an eccentric look across America—by Academy Award winner Coen. The evening of short pieces, titled A Play Is a Poem, will be directed by artistic director Neil Pepe. Performances will run May 20–June 21 in Stage 2.
The season slate also includes the The Big One-Oh!, as part of Atlantic's programming for young audiences. The musical features music by Doug Besterman, lyrics by Dean Pitchford, a book by Timothy Allen McDonald, based on the novel by Dean Pitchford, and direction by MK Lawson.
A second spring production will be announced at a later date. Visit Atlantictheater.org/join/membership for more information.
