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Geffen Playhouse has announced the full cast for its West Coast premiere of Witch, written by Jen Silverman (The Roommate, Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties) and directed by Marti Lyons (How to Defend Yourself, Boticelli in the Fire). This marks the first Geffen production to launch the 2019/2020 season, the second season programmed by Artistic Director Matt Shakman.
The cast features Emmy nominee and Golden Globe winner Maura Tierney (ER, The Affair) as Elizabeth Sawyer, as well as Brian George (Three Seasons, Stuff Happens) as Sir Arthur Banks, Ruy Iskandar (Macbeth, The Tempest) as Frank Thorney, Evan Jonigkeit (Sweetbitter, The Snow Geese) as Scratch, Vella Lovell (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Big Sick) as Winnifred and Will Von Vogt (Significant Other, Angels in America), who replaces previously announced Simon Helberg in the role of Cuddy Banks.
Previews for Witch begin Tuesday, August 20 in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at Geffen Playhouse. Opening night is Thursday, August 29.
In this fiendishly funny new play by Jen Silverman, inspired by The Witch of Edmonton by Rowley, Dekker and Ford, a charming devil arrives in the quiet village of Edmonton to bargain for the souls of its residents in exchange for their darkest wishes. Elizabeth should be the easiest to target, having been labeled a “witch” and cast out by the town, but her soul is not so readily bought. An inventive retelling of a Jacobean drama, this sharp, subversive fable debates how much our souls are worth when hope is hard to come by.
Witch was commissioned by and premiered at Writers Theatre (Michael Halberstam, Artistic Director; Kathryn M. Lipuma, Executive Director).
Witch runs at Geffen Playhouse August 29 – September 29, 2019
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Monday No performance
Tuesday – Friday 8:00 p.m.
Saturday 3:00 and 8:00 p.m.
Sunday 2:00 and 7:00 p.m.
LOCATION
Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse
10886 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets currently priced at $30.00 – $120.00. Available in person at the Geffen Playhouse box office, by phone at 310.208.5454 or online at www.geffenplayhouse.org. Fees may apply.
Rush tickets for each day’s performance are made available to the general public 30 minutes before showtime at the box office. $35.00 General / $10.00 Student
COLLEGE AUDIENCES
Through a variety of events and other opportunities, the Geffen Playhouse welcomes college students to experience the live storytelling presented on our stages. We are proud of our association with UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television, and open our doors to all college students throughout Los Angeles. More information is available at www.geffenplayhouse.org/college.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Jen Silverman (Playwright)
Jen Silverman is a New York-based writer. Her work includes Witch (Writers Theatre), The Roommate (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Steppenwolf), Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Southwark Playhouse, MCC Theater), Dangerous House (InterAct Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival) and The Moors (Yale Repertory Theatre, The Playwrights Realm). Jen is a member of New Dramatists, an affiliated artist with The Playwrights Center in Minneapolis and SPACE on Ryder Farm. She’s a two-time MacDowell Colony fellow, a recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts grant, the Helen Merrill Award, an LMCC Fellowship, and the Yale Drama Series Award. She was the 2016-2017 Playwrights of New York (PoNY) Fellow at the Lark. Silverman has a two-book deal with Random House for a collection of interlinked stories (The Island Dwellers) and a novel. She also writes for TV and film, most recently on Netflix’s Tales of the City. Education: Brown, Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Juilliard. More info: www.jensilverman.com
Marti Lyons (Director)
Marti Lyons is a Chicago-based director whose most current work includes directing How to Defend Yourself by Lily Padilla for the 2019 Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville. She also recently directed Witch by Jen Silverman (Writers Theatre); Botticelli in the Fire by Jordan Tannahill (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company); The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe and Kings by Sarah Burgess (Studio Theater); Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (The Court Theatre); Native Gardens by Karen Zacarias (Victory Gardens Theatre); The Mystery of Love and Sex by Bathsheba Doran (Writers Theatre); Wit (The Hypocrites); and The City of Conversation by Anthony Giardina (Northlight Theatre Company). Lyons directed Wondrous Strange by Meg Miroshnik, Martyna Majok, Jen Silverman and Jiehae Park (2016 Humana Festival) and Title and Deed by Will Eno (Lookingglass Theatre Company). Other projects include Laura Marks’ Bethany, Marks’ Mine and Will Nedved’s Body and Blood (The Gift Theatre); Catherine Treischmann’s Hot Georgia Sunday and Theresa Rebeck’s Seminar (Haven Theatre); The Play About My Dad by Boo Killebrew (Raven Theatre); Mai Dang Lao by David Jacobi, 9 Circles by Bill Cain and Maria/Stuart by Jason Grote. She is an ensemble member at The Gift Theatre, an Artistic Associate with Sideshow Theatre and a proud member of SDC.
ABOUT GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE
Geffen Playhouse has been a hub of the Los Angeles theater scene since opening its doors in 1995. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its world-renowned mix of classic and contemporary plays, provocative new works and second productions, the not-for-profit organization continues to present a body of work that has garnered national recognition. Named in honor of entertainment mogul and philanthropist David Geffen, who made the initial donation to the theater, the company was founded by Gilbert Cates and is currently helmed by Executive Director Gil Cates, Jr., Artistic Director Matt Shakman and Board Chair Howard Tenenbaum. Proudly associated with UCLA, the Geffen welcomes an audience of more than 130,000 each year, and maintains extensive education and community engagement programs, designed to involve underserved young people and the community at large in the arts. www.geffenplayhouse.org
