Performances Have Begun for 'Dana H.' at Douglas
PERFORMANCES HAVE BEGUN FOR WORLD PREMIERE OF LUCAS HNATH’S “DANA H.” AT CENTER THEATRE GROUP’S KIRK DOUGLAS THEATRE
“Dana H.” Runs Through June 23, 2019
Performances have begun for the world premiere of Lucas Hnath’s “Dana H.” at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in a co-production with Goodman Theatre. Adapted from interviews with Dana Higginbotham, conducted by Steve Cosson, directed by Les Waters and featuring Deirdre O’Connell in the title role, “Dana H.” will open on June 2 and continue through June 23, 2019.
The creative team includes set design by Andrew Boyce, lighting and supertitle design by Paul Toben, costume design by Janice Pytel and sound design by Mikhail Fiksel. The production stage manager is Maggie Swing.
“Dana H.” was originally commissioned by The Civilians (New York) and Goodman Theatre; it will appear at the Goodman from September 6 through October 6, 2019, during their 2019/2020 season.
“Dana H.” tells the real-life story of Hnath’s own mother. A nondenominational hospice chaplain, Dana had stared death in the face on countless occasions, but when she helped a mentally ill ex-convict turn his life around, she suddenly found her own life hanging in the balance. “Dana H.” recounts the harrowing five-month odyssey as she was held captive by, traveled with and eventually escaped her unstable captor. Told in Dana’s own words, reconstructed for the stage by her son, award-winning playwright Lucas Hnath (“A Doll’s House, Part 2,” “The Christians”), this innovative work of theatre shatters the boundaries of the form and of our understanding of good and evil.
Hnath’s work as a playwright includes “A Doll’s House, Part 2,” “Hillary and Clinton,” “Red Speedo,” “The Christians,” “A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney,” “Isaac’s Eye” and “Death Tax.” His work has been produced nationally and internationally, including at Playwrights Horizons, New York Theatre Workshop, Soho Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville/Humana Festival of New Plays, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Mark Taper Forum (“The Christians”), Steppenwolf Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Royal Court Theatre, and on Broadway at the John Golden Theatre. He is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre and a resident of New Dramatists. Hnath is a recipient of an Obie, Guggenheim Fellowship, Outer Critics Circle Award for Best New Play, Whiting Award, Kesselring Prize, two Steinberg citations from the American Theatre Critics Association, and a 2017 Tony nomination for Best Play. At NYU, Hnath has previously served as a Language Lecturer in the Expository Writing Program. Additionally, he has taught at Rutgers, University of Rochester and the Southampton Writers Conference.
About Goodman Theatre: “America’s best regional theatre” (Time magazine), Goodman Theatre is a premier not-for-profit organization distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and civic engagement. Led by Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the theatre’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theatre works and reimagined classics (celebrated revivals include Falls’ productions of “Death of a Salesman” and “The Iceman Cometh”). Goodman Theatre artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards, over 160 Jeff Awards and many more accolades. In addition, the Goodman is the first theatre in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle;” and its annual holiday tradition “A Christmas Carol,” which marked its 41st production this season, has created a new generation of theatergoers. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production partner with local off-Loop theatres and national and international companies by providing financial support or physical space for a variety of artistic endeavors. Committed to three core values of Quality, Diversity and Community, the Goodman proactively makes inclusion the fabric of the institution and develops education and community engagement programs that support arts as education. This practice uses the process of artistic creation to inspire and empower youth, lifelong learners and audiences to find and/or enhance their voices, stories and abilities. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of such programming, most offered free of charge, and has vastly expanded the theater’s ability to touch the lives of Chicagoland citizens (with 85% of youth participants coming from underserved communities) since its 2016 opening.
Center Theatre Group, one of the nation’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles’ leading nonprofit theatre company, which, under Artistic Director Michael Ritchie, programs seasons at the 736-seat Mark Taper Forum and 1600 to 2100-seat Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to presenting and producing the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country, Center Theatre Group is one of the nation’s leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics and circumstance to serve Los Angeles.
Tickets for “Dana H.” are available by calling (213) 628-2772, online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org, at the Center Theatre Group Box Office at the Ahmanson Theatre or at the Kirk Douglas Theatre Box Office two hours prior to performance. Tickets for “Dana H.” range from $25 – $79 (ticket prices are subject to change). The Kirk Douglas Theatre is located at 9820 Washington Blvd. in Culver City, CA 90232. Free three hour covered parking at City Hall with validation (available in the Kirk Douglas Theatre lobby).
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May 30, 2019