The New York premiere of Pulitzer winner Bruce Norris' Downstate officially opens at Off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons November 15. Performances began October 28 and will continue through December 11.
Starring in the production are Francis Guinan as Fred, K. Todd Freeman as Dee, Glenn Davis as Gio, Eddie Torres as Felix, Susanna Guzmán as Ivy, Tim Hopper as Andy, Sally Murphy as Em, and Gabi Samels as Effie.
Four men, all convicted of sex crimes, share a group home in Illinois post-incarceration when a man arrives one day to confront his childhood abuser in Norris' exploration of the boundaries of justice, retribution, compassion, and forgiveness.
“A depiction of something is not an endorsement," Norris commented in a statement. "But, I do think that witnessing the lives of characters on stage encourages identification, and if you spend two hours in the company of a group of sex offenders, do you emerge from the experience with your certainty about them momentarily disrupted? The goal is not to forgive, but rather to complicate an easy and casually cruel response.”
Director Pam MacKinnon, who frequently collaborates with Norris, leads a creative team comprised of set designer Todd Rosenthal, costume designer Clint Ramos, lighting designer Adam Silverman, sound designer Carolyn Downing, production stage manager Laura Smith, and assistant stage manager Thomas Dieter.
Steppenwolf Theatre Company presented the world premiere of Downstate, which it commissioned, in 2018. It joins Norris' Pulitzer Prize-winning Clybourne Park, plus The Qualms and The Pain and the Itch in the roster of plays from Norris staged at Playwrights Horizons.
Visit PlaywrightsHorizons.org.
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