2nd Stage announces two plays for next season

Second Stage Theatre has announced two of the four mainstage productions in the company's upcoming 34th season.

The 2012-2013 season will kick off this fall with the world premiere comedy, Jon Kern's Modern Terrorism, or They Who Want To Kill Us and How We Learn To Love Them, winner of the 2012 Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award. This satire will be directed by Peter DuBois, who staged Second Stage's 'Becky Shaw,' 'Trust' and 'All New People.'

The fall will continue with the New York Premiere of this year's Pulitzer Prize-Winning drama, Water By The Spoonful, written by Quiara Alegría Hudes and directed by Davis McCallum.

Modern Terrorism, or They Who Want To Kill Us and How We Learn To Love Them.
World premiere
Written by Jon Kern
Directed by Peter DuBois
Cast to be announced
Expected to preview in mid-Sep 2012 prior to a mid-Oct 2012 opening.

A satire about a rogue group of 21st Century terrorists and their darkly comic misadventures. As a young bomber develops feelings for his beautiful, secretive conspirator, he is torn between his duty and his heart. When his hipster neighbor accidentally gets caught up in the plans, circumstances spiral out of control.

Jon Kern is the 2012 winner of the Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award, the largest playwriting prize of its kind in the United States, for 'Modern Terrorism, or They Who Want To Kill Us and How We Learn To Love Them.' He recently joined the staff of the long-running hit television show, "The Simpsons," and is a member of the Ars Nova Playgroup, the Civilians R&D Group, and the Ma-Yi Writers Lab. His play 'We in Silence Hear a Whisper' premiered in 2011, produced by Red Fern Theatre Company.

Peter DuBois returns to Second Stage where he directed 'Becky Shaw,' 'Trust' and' All New People.' He also staged the West End production of 'All New People' and the Almeida Theatre (London) production of 'Becky Shaw.' His other credit include 'Sons of the Prophet' (Roundabout Theatre Company), 'Measure for Pleasure,''Richard III,' 'Mom How Did You Meet the Beatles,' 'Biro,' 'Jack Goes Boating' and 'View From 151st Street.' He has also staged works at American Conservatory Theater, Trinity Repertory Company, Humana Festival of New Plays, Manchester Opera House, Kings Theatre Glasgow. He was the Associate Producer at The Public Theater/NYSF from 2003-2005 and was their Resident Director from 2005-2008. He also served as Artistic Director of the Perseverance Theatre Company in Juneau, Alaska from 1997-2003. DuBois is currently in his fourth season as the Artistic Director of The Huntington Theatre Company in Boston.

Water By the Spoonful
New York premiere
Written by Quiara Alegría Hudes
Directed by Davis McCallum
Cast to be announced
Expected to preview in mid-Dec 2012 prior to a early Jan 2013 opening.

Elliot, a Puerto Rican veteran of the Iraq War, returns home to Philadelphia haunted by demons from the past, his family in flux, and his only career prospect at the local Subway sandwich shop. When his mother's online support group begins to overshadow his aspirations for the future, the real and online worlds - one forged by blood, another by survival - collide.

Quiara Alegría Hudes received the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, 'Water By the Spoonful.' Her play, 'Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue,' was a Pulitzer Finalist, and her most recent work, 'The Happiest Song Plays Last,' will premiere next season at The Goodman Theatre. Hudes wrote the book to the Broadway musical 'In the Heights,' which premiered off-Broadway and earned the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical. 'In the Heights' transferred to Broadway where it received the Tony Award for Best Musical, a Tony Nomination for Best Book of a Musical, and was named a Pulitzer Finalist.

Davis McCallum returns to Second Stage Theatre where he directed the world premiere of Michael Mitnick's 'Sex Lives of Our Parents' as part of last summer's Uptown Series. He recently directed the world premiere of Gabe Kahane and Seth Bockley's 'February House'at the Long Wharf Theatre, as well as its subsequent New York premiere at the Public Theater. Other New York credits include Sam Hunter's 'A Bright New Boise,' 'Five Genocides,' Greg Moss's 'punkplay,' Chuck Mee's 'Queens Boulevard' (Signature Theatre), Quiara Alegría Hudes' 'Elliot: A Soldier's Fugue' (P73; Pulitzer Prize Finalist), 'Henry V' (New Victory), 'Jane Eyre' (The Acting Company) and Rob Urbinati's 'West Moon Street' (Prospect Theater). Regonally, he has directed productions at the Guthrie, the Old Globe, Humana, Long Wharf, Hartford Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Williamstown, Alliance, Chautauqua, the O'Neill, Playmakers Rep, Two River, and New York Stage & Film, among others.