World premiere productions of new plays by Neil LaBute (“reasons to be pretty”), Michael Weller (“Spoils of War”), and Sharr White (“Six Years”) will make up the 2010-11 season of MCC Theater, the Off Broadway theater company will announce on Monday.
According to an advance preview of MCC’s season, at the Lucille Lortel Theater, Mr. LaBute’s new play “The Break of Noon” will run from October to December and be directed by his long-time collaborator, Jo Bonney. The play – Mr. LaBute’s seventh collaboration with MCC – explores a spiritual awakening among a non-believer in God after a horrific office shooting. The production is being mounted in association with the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.
Mr. White will make his New York debut with MCC’s production of “The Other Place,” about a strong-headed Alzheimer’s researcher whose private life takes a scary turn. The production is scheduled to run in March and April 2011.
Perhaps most intriguing for students of dramaturgy will be Mr. Weller’s new play, “Side Effects,” a sequel of sorts to his last show at MCC, “Fifty Words,” which starred Norbert Leo Butz and Elizabeth Marvel in the 2008 production.
“Fifty Words” turned in part on the revelation of an extramarital affair between Mr. Butz’s character and a married Midwestern woman named Lindy; the play’s climax came with a call to the woman’s home. “Side Effects” is “the story of what happened on the other end of the line,” with the bipolar Lindy and her politician-husband Hugh as central characters, according to MCC’s description of the play.
No directors were announced for “The Other Place” and “Side Effects,” and no casting was announced for any of the three shows. Specific performance dates will be announced later.