Signature Theatre Company

SIGNATURE THEATRE COMPANY (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) was founded in 1991 by James Houghton and is the first theatre company to devote a season to the work of a single playwright. Signature has presented entire seasons of Edward Albee, Lee Blessing, Horton Foote, Maria Irene Fornes, John Guare, Bill Irwin, Adrienne Kennedy, Romulus Linney, Charles Mee, Arthur Miller, Sam Shepard, Paula Vogel, August Wilson, Lanford Wilson and the historic Negro Ensemble Company. The twentieth season features the work of Tony Kushner.

Since 2005, Signature has presented world-class theatre at an affordable price through The Signature Ticket Initiative, offering subsidized $20 tickets through 2011. This program is made possible by the lead sponsorship of Time Warner Inc. Signature, its productions, and its resident writers have been recognized with a Pulitzer Prize, Lucille Lortel Awards, Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards, and AUDELCO Awards, among many other distinctions. Signature Theatre Company recently announced a new, permanent home beginning in 2012. The Frank Gehry-designed Signature Center on W. 42nd Street will feature three programs: the Master Playwrights Residency, which explores major bodies of work; the Legacy Program, which celebrates previous Signature artists, and the Emerging Playwrights Residency, which features early and mid-career playwrights.

 

BBB Contact: Heath Schwartz, Emily Meagher

 

Signature Theatre Company's 2012 season includes:

RESIDENCY ONE - ATHOL FUGARD SERIES

BLOOD KNOT

Written and Directed by Athol Fugard

Previews begin January 31, 2012

Between patchwork walls in a one-room shack, two biracial South African brothers grapple with crippling poverty and lonely isolation. Fugard’s revolutionary breakthrough play is a searing indictment of apartheid and one of his most celebrated works.

Featuring Colman Domingo and Scott Shepherd.

MY CHILDREN! MY AFRICA!

Written by Athol Fugard

Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson

Previews begin May 1, 2012

Written in 1989 shortly before the end of apartheid, My Children! My Africa! presents an honest and unflinching portrait of a country on the brink of revolution, and is a testament to the power and potential of youth, hope, and ideas.

THE TRAIN DRIVER (NEW YORK PREMIERE)

Written and Directed by Athol Fugard

Previews begin August 14, 2012

Based on a true story, The Train Driver is a soulful exploration of guilt, suffering and the powerful bonds that grow between strangers.

LEGACY PROGRAM

EDWARD ALBEE’S THE LADY FROM DUBUQUE

Directed by David Esbjornson

Previews begin February 14, 2012

At a late night party, Sam and Jo entertain their friends with a round of Twenty Questions and another round of drinks. When an unexpected guest and her mysterious companion arrive, the question "Who are you?" gains a whole new and desperate meaning.

In addition to Tony Award-winner Jane Alexander in the title role, the production features Catherine Curtin, Michael Hayden, Peter Francis James, Tricia Paoluccio, Laila Robins, Thomas Jay Ryan, and C.J. Wilson.

RESIDENCY FIVE

HURT VILLAGE (WORLD PREMIERE)

Written by Katori Hall

Directed by Patricia McGregor

Previews begin February 7, 2012

It’s the end of a long summer in Hurt Village, a housing project in Memphis, Tennessee, and a government Hope Grant means relocation for many of the project’s residents. A bold, gritty and devastating work, Hurt Village earned Katori Hall the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, given annually to an outstanding female playwright.

Featuing Marsha Stephanie Blake, Nicholas Christopher, Corey Hawkins, Charlie Hudson III, Ron Cephas Jones, Joaquina Kalukango, Tonya Pinkins, Saycon Sengbloh and Lloyd Watts.

TITLE AND DEED (U.S. PREMIERE)

Written by Will Eno

Directed by Judy Hegarty Lovett

Previews begin May 8, 2012

A nameless traveler from a far off place searches for connection and solace in an unknown country in this funny and sad meditation on mortality, loneliness, innocence, home, family, love, funerals, words, and the world. A provocative new work by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Horton Foote Prize winner Will Eno, whom The New York Times called “a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation.”

MEDIEVAL PLAY (WORLD PREMIERE)

Previews begin May 15, 2012

Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan

Two French mercenary knights set out on a quest for relative moral redemption against the classic comic background of late 14th century ecclesiastical politics. A story of friendship, love, noble feats of arms, indiscriminate brutality, the progressive refinement of medieval table manners and the general decline of the chivalric ideal at the onset of the Great Papal Schism of 1378. A new and meandering comedy with no contemporary parallels worth noting by Kenneth Lonergan.