Oana Botez News

LAByrinth Theater Company (John Ortiz, Artistic Director; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Co-Artistic Director; John Gould Rubin, Co-Artistic Director & Executive Director) has announced complete casting for the new play in development, Penalties & Interest by Rebecca Cohen, the sixth play in the inaugural PUBLIC LAB series. Directed by John Gould Rubin, the cast features LAByrinth Theater Company members Julian Acosta ('Dirt'), Elizabeth Canavan (The Little Flower of East Orange), Yetta Gottesman (The Last Days of Judas Iscariot), Craig 'muMs' Grant (A View From 151st Street, 'Oz'), and Michael Puzzo (Dirty Story). The development production begins performances Tuesday, June 10th for a limited engagement through June 28th at The Public Theater (425 Lafayette Street at Astor Place). The insular existence of office life is a Petri dish for contemporary society in Rebecca Cohen's comedy, Penalties & Interest. Lollie, Lyle and Amy try to keep their heads above water, and their boss, Dick, bobs up when they least expect it. LAByrinth first presented Penalties & Interest behind closed doors at its annual retreat, the Summer Intensive, and then presented it as a free reading at the 2006 Barn Series festival. Now, this bare-bones PUBLIC LAB production marks the next stage in LAByrinth's unique play development process, taking the collaboration between the playwright, director, designers and audiences, to the next level. To follow this process, from planning through rehearsals and closing night, members of the general public are invited to contribute to the Penalties & Interest Blog (at www.LABtheater.org), where author, director, company and creative team are talking about the play's development, and hosting a forum for audience response. The creative team for Penalties & Interest includes Chris Barreca (Scenic Design), Oana Botez-Ban (Costume Design), Nicole Pearce (Lighting Design), Betsy Rhodes (Sound Design) and Paula Pizzi (Dramaturg). Penalties & Interest will play the following performance schedule: Tuesdays - Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $10 and available at The Public Theater Box Office, by calling (212) 967-7555, or online at www.publictheater.org. The Public Theater is located at 425 Lafayette Street. The performance of Penalties & Interest on Tuesday, June 24th will feature open-captioning for members of the Hard-of-Hearing community. For reservations and information, contact LAByrinth at (212) 513-1014 or visit LABtheater.org. LAByrinth's Accessibility Project is made possible with a grant from Theatre Development Fund's TAP Plus program. Open-Captioning provided by c2 (caption coalition) inc.

LAByrinth Theater Company has announced complete casting for the new play in development, 'Penalties & Interest' by Rebecca Cohen.

LAByrinth Theater Company has announced complete casting for the new play in development, 'Penalties & Interest' by Rebecca Cohen.

The Roundtable Ensemble will present the world premiere of Chris Kipiniak's Save the World, a superhero-adventure play at the American Theatre of Actors. Performances will begin on Thursday, January 17, and the official opening night will be Saturday, January 19 at 8PM. Performances will run for four weeks through February 9.

The oldest living Ziegfeld Girl dances once again while Michael raves about Michael Cumpsty's 'Richard III' and tries to figure out 'Rock 'n' Roll.'

Due to a scheduling conflict, Logan Marshall-Green has dropped out of the upcoming production of Rag and Bone at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Replacing him is Matthew Stadelmann. Performances will now begin Tuesday, November 13, 2007. Opening night is Tuesday, November 20 at 7PM. The show will run through Sunday, December 16, 2007.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater continues its 13th anniversary season with the New York premiere of Rag and Bone, a play by Noah Haidle. Performances begin Wednesday, November 14, 2007. Opening night is Tuesday, November 20 at 7PM. The show will run through Sunday, December 16, 2007.

For the second production in its 2007 season of musicals, the Vortex Theater Company will premiere its radical new vision of Kander and Ebb's Kiss of the Spider Woman - The Musical, directed by Gisela Cardenas with musical direction by Milica Paranosic

Ripe Time has just announced the world premiere of Betrothed, written and directed by Rachel Dickstein (the Ohio Theatre's Innocents). The show is based on S. Ansky's The Dybbuk, Anton Chekhov's Betrothed, and Jhumpa Lahiri's The Treatment of Bibi Haldar.

Downtown theater stalwart Jean Cocteau Repertory has shed its longtime home at the Bouwerie Lane Theatre, expanded its mission, and has been rechristened The Exchange.

The Pulitzer Prize-nominated play, Old Wicked Songs by Jon Marans, will be staged at Westport Country Playhouse, October 19 through November 5

The Shakespeare-based musical Fools and Lovers will begin performances on September 21st

Complete casting is set for the upcoming Off-Broadway production of Shakespeare's classic historical tragedy Richard II, which will be presented by Classic Stage Company from September 6th through October 15th, with opening night set for September 17th

The Vortex Theatre will present In Delirium: after the sorrows of young werther from March 31st through April 23rd off-Broadway

The New York 'IT' Awards (sponsored by Backstage) takes place September 19th at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.