Future Productions
By Horton Foote
Directed by Michael Wilson
August 20 - September 29, 2013
Residency: Legacy Program
Venue: The Irene Diamond Stage
In this World Premiere play by Signature Legacy Playwright Horton Foote, matriarch Mamie Borden and the remaining members of two longtime Texas farming families await a visit from Mamie's son Hugo and his wife Sybil. When Sybil arrives with alarming news, old friends on opposing sides must confront the issues surrounding legacy, loyalty, and the meaning of happiness that have hounded them for generations.
Helmed by Michael Wilson, director of Signature's acclaimed 2009 production of The Orphans' Home Cycle and the current Tony nominated revival of The Trip to Bountiful, The Old Friends is an absorbing and vital chapter in Foote's beloved, distinctly American body of work.
Betty Buckley, Hallie Foote and Lois Smith will be featured in the production.
Written and directed by Regina Taylor
August - September 2013
Residency: Residency Five
Venue: The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre
As e-books outsell printed books, Alex Ames, the owner of Chicago’s oldest African American book publishing company, must question each of his employees to determine who is still relevant in a rapidly changing world. When he meets J, a mysterious youth plugged into the future, Mr. Ames is forced to discover just how far he will go to survive.
A new play from Residency Five playwright Regina Taylor, stop. reset. asks powerful questions of legacy, identity and survival in a world where the real and the virtual are more closely tied than we think.
By August Wilson
Directed by Todd Kreidler
Featuring Ruben Santiago-Hudson
November - December 2013
Residency: Legacy Program
Venue: The Alice Griffin Jewelbox Theatre
In this solo show, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson shares stories about his first few jobs, a stint in jail, an early relationship, his first kiss, his foray into cinema, and the friends he has had his entire life. Directed by long-time collaborator Todd Kreidler and featuring Ruben Santiago-Hudson, director of the acclaimed The Piano Lesson, How I Learned What I Learned charts one man’s journey of self-discovery through adversity, and what it means to be a black artist in America.
A New York Premiere from Signature’s 2006-07 Playwright-in-Residence.
Conceived, Directed and Choreographed by Martha Clarke
November - December 2013
Residency: Residency Five
Venue: The Irene Diamond Stage
Inspired by the classic 1920 novella by controversial French author Colette, Cheri is Martha Clarke’s newest interdisciplinary work, an exciting fusion of theatre, live music, and dance featuring American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Herman Cornejo, prima ballerina assoluta Alessandra Ferri, actor Suzanne Bertish, pianist Sarah Rothenberg, and text by Tina Howe. This tragic story of forbidden love between a young man and an older woman in Belle Époque Paris is a timeless, powerful exploration of sensuality, love, and our preoccupations with youth and age.
By Will Eno
February - March 2014
Residency: Residency Five
Venue: The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre
Signature is delighted to welcome back Residency Five playwright Will Eno for a second premiere production. His play Title and Deed, produced during the Company’s Inaugural Season at The Pershing Square Signature Center, landed on The New York Times’ Top 10 list for 2012, and introduced Signature audiences to Eno’s rich and distinctive body of work.
By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
February - March 2014
Residency: Residency Five
Venue: The Alice Griffin Jewelbox Theatre
The estranged members of the Lafayette clan have returned to Arkansas and their crumbling old plantation home to settle the accounts of their recently deceased patriarch. As they sort through a lifetime of hoarded mementos and junk, the discovery of a gruesome relic and a surprise visitor send the family into a spiral of crackling confrontations, repressed histories, and regret.
Appropriate is a New York premiere by Residency Five playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, winner of the 2013 Sundance Theatre Institute Tennessee Williams Award.
By David Henry Hwang
Directed by Leigh Silverman
February - March 2014
Residency: Residency One
Venue: The Irene Diamond Stage
A young martial artist comes to America from Hong Kong in the 1960’s with dreams of becoming the biggest movie star in the world, and struggles to overcome the West’s view of Asian men as less than truly masculine.
A world premiere production based on the life of Bruce Lee.