DREAMS OF FLYING DREAMS OF FALLINGWhen does Adam Rapp sleep? Here is yet another new real/surreal play by the writer who seems to breathe challenging, non-boring scripts. Produced by Atlantic Theater Company, and directed by Neil Pepe, this one is set in Connecticut, where a pair of wealthy couples sit down to enjoy dinner, while the sky is a strange color and geese are bombarding the house. The strong cast of seven includes Christine Lahti, Reed Birney and Katherine Waterston.
The Classic Stage Company, 136 E. 13th St., (212) 279-4200. Previews Sept. 13, opens Oct. 3-30. Tickets here.
THE ATMOSPHERE OF MEMORY
David Bar Katz, a LAByrinth Theater Company regular, who consistently pens edgy plays (Philip Roth in Khartoum), has come up with a play within a play here. It seems the playwright character, in his autobiographical drama, has written about things that aren't exactly how his father remembers them; and, to top it off, his real-life mother has been cast to play his on-stage mom. Rewrites are called for. The great thing is that Ellen Burstyn plays the mother, leading a hearty cast of ten that includes John Glover and Max Casella, with the wonderful Pam MacKinnon directing.
Bank Street Theater, 155 Bank St., (212) 213-1080. Previews Oct. 15, opens Oct. 30-Nov. 15. Tickets here.
ASUNCION
I guess it's not enough that Jesse Eisenberg has become a likeable, bankable movie star, he also writes plays; and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater is producing his new script. Eisenberg, fresh off the screen in the underrated but enjoyable comedy thriller, 30 Minutes or Less, has written a four-character play, and will be playing one of the roles. He and a male friend, both out-and-out liberals, take in a young Filipina woman as their roommate, and are eager to show their open-mindedness. But it doesn't work out that way. The cast includes the Broadway veteran Rene Auberjonois and Justin Bartha, with Camille Mana making her Off-Brodway debut as the title character. Kip Fagan directs.
The Cherry Lane Theater, 38 Commerce St., (212) 279-4200. Previews Oct. 12, opens Oct. 27-Nov. 27. Tickets here.
WE LIVE HERE
Zoe Kazan is another fine actor (A Behanding in Spokane) who has written a play, and Manhattan Theatre Club is producing her playwrighting debut. The setting is the Sunday family wedding of the oldest daughter, when the younger sister shows up for the weekend festivities with her new boyfriend, who seems to make everyone ill at ease. Mark Blum and Amy Irving play the parents, Jessica Collins is the bride-to-be, Betty Gilpin is the younger sister and Oscar Isaac is the new boyfriend with a hidden history. Leave it to the capable director, Sam Gold (Circle Mirror Transformation), to keep things from getting out of hand.
City Center Stage I, 131 W. 55th St., (212) 581-1211. Previews Sept. 22, opens Oct. 12-30. Tickets here.
3 2'S; OR AFAR
Playwright Mac Wellman is one of downtown's leading avant garde lights; he's a three-time Obie Award winner, with the last one for lifetime achievement. Not only have his plays been ground-breaking, but as Professor of Playwriting at Brooklyn College for many years, he has created a legacy of daring, young playwrights; like Thomas Bradshaw and Sibyl Kempson, to name just two out of dozens. This is a piece close in spirit to Japanese Noh theater, about a young puppeteer and a stranger. There will be performing objects; a boot and a shoe are main characters. The Dixon Place space has been transformed for this production, with former artistic director Leslie Strongwater producing. Meghan Finn directs, and two outstanding actors, Jan Leslie Harding and Jocelyn Kuritsky, are featured performers.
Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie St., (212) 219-0736. Oct. 6-29. Tickets here.
