Playwrights Horizons 2022-23 season: Bruce Norris's DOWNSTATE and more

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/4/22 at 11:54am

Highlighting DOWNSTATE because it is quite provocative and received a range of responses at Steppenwolf: 

At a registered address in downstate Illinois, four men convicted of sex crimes share a group home where they live out their days post-incarceration. When a man shows up to confront his childhood abuser, it becomes hard to locate the line between justice and retribution. This gripping, provocative new play from Pulitzer Prize winner Bruce Norris zeroes in on the limits of compassion and forgiveness.

Full season is comprised of:

Catch as Catch Can (Beginning October 2022)
Written by Mia Chung, Directed by Daniel Aukin

Downstate (Beginning October 2022)
Steppenwolf Theatre Company and National Theatre Production
Written by Bruce Norris, Directed by Pam MacKinnon

The Trees (Beginning February 2023)
Written by Agnes Borinsky, Directed by Tina Satter, Co-Produced with Page 73 Productions

Regretfully, So the Birds Are (Beginning March 2023)
Written by Julia Izumi, Directed by Jenny Koons, Co-Produced with WP Theater

Wet Brain (Beginning May 2023)
Written by John J. Caswell, Jr., Co-Produced with MCC Theater

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 4/4/22 at 11:56am

Downstate? Oh hell yes. Here's hoping for a Broadway transfer.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 4/4/22 at 12:11pm

One of the best plays I've ever seen. Can't wait to finally get to see it again on this side of the pond.

Rest of the season is...meh.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/4/22 at 12:14pm

Mia Chung’s “Catch as Catch Can” had a downtown run a few years back, with a different director. Michael Esper was in it.

It’s a bizarre, ambitious piece. I loved the 1st half, but thought it went off the rails in the 2nd half, and ultimately didn’t totally work for me. But I’m intrigued by the fact that it’s getting a brand new production. I wonder if she’s worked on it since. Incidentally, Mia Chung’s play “You For Me For You” is one of my favorite contemporary plays, so I had high hopes for this one, which might be why I was slightly disappointed. 
 

Incidentally, unless you’ve seen/read these plays already, it doesn’t seem fair to prematurely judge a new season at a company like PH. Yes, it’s true that we sometimes get flashy, high profile programming from them, and I know it’s exciting to have those things to look forward to. But the whole point theaters like this is the present new plays by emerging artists. 

Updated On: 4/4/22 at 12:14 PM