College Kids Play Games of Seduction in MacLeod's Juvenilia, Premiering at Playwrights Horizons
By Kenneth Jones
14 Nov 2003
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| Playwright Wendy MacLeod |
David Petrarca (Fuddy Meers, Marvin's Room) directs the play by the author of The House of Yes and The Water Children.
Opening night is Dec. 7 at the mainstage of Playwrights Horizons on West 42nd Street. Performances continue to Dec. 21.
The announcement teases: "What better way to avoid writing a term paper than by plotting to seduce the wholesome girl across the hall? In Juvenilia, college student Henry (Brennan) and his roommate Brodie (MacFarlane) play a sexual game of cat and mouse with their inexperienced neighbor Angie (Tazel). Throw a little tequila and a hell-bent It Girl (Dollar) into the mix, and soon you're testing the boundaries. A rivetingly authentic and hilarious examination of college life, and of how the truth sneaks out when no one's looking."
Ian Brennan's Chicago credits include productions at The Goodman (The Beard of Avon directed by David Petrarca, The Rose Tattoo), Steppenwolf (The Royal Family, Mother Courage), Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (As You Like It, All's Well That Ends Well) and Marriott Theatre (Jeff nomination for Finian's Rainbow).
Aubrey Dollar plays Marina Cooper on "Guiding Light." Other TV credits include "Dawson's Creek" and "The Education of Max Bickford."
Luke McFarlane is a 2003 graduate of The Juilliard School, where he appeared in productions of Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, The Grapes of Wrath, As You Like It and Blue Window. He plays cello and is the lead singer of the Warner Brothers recording group Fellow Nameless.
Erica N. Tazel appeared Off-Broadway in Brian Kulick's production of A Winter's Tale (Delacorte) and in Bartlett Sher's Cymbeline (Theatre for a New Audience). Regionally she has appeared in Hard Times and The Love of Three Oranges at Williamstown and Crumbs from the Table of Joy at Dallas Theater Center.
Wendy MacLeod's play, Schoolgirl Figure, which was optioned by HBO, premiered at The Goodman in 2000, where her play Sin also premiered before opening Off-Broadway at Second Stage. She is the author of The Water Children, which premiered at Playwrights Horizons as a co-production with The Women's Project & Productions and was subsequently produced at L.A.'s Matrix Theater, where it earned six L.A. Drama Critics Circle nominations.
The House of Yes, which became an award winning film, won the Bay Area Critics Award for Best New Play in 1990 and became the second longest-running show in The Magic Theater's history. Her newest play, Things Being What They Are, was produced at Seattle Rep and Steppenwolf last season.
Designers are Michael Yeargan (scenic), Martin Pakledinaz (costume), Mark McCullough (lighting) and Robert Milburn and Michael Bodeen (sound).
Tickets are $50. PH is at 416 W. 42nd Street. The performance schedule is 8 PM Tuesdays through Fridays, 3 7 8 PM Saturdays and 3 & 7:30 PM Sundays.
For ticket information, call Ticket Central at (212) 279 4200, or visit www.playwrightshorizons.org.
