Signature Theatre announces 2018-2019 off-Broadway season

Five new productions and a world premiere musical by Dave Malloy complete Signature's 2018-2019 season at The Pershing Square Signature Center.

Signature Theatre has revealed details for its forthcoming 2018-2019 off-Broadway season at The Pershing Square Signature Center, including a total of six new productions.

The season will feature two comedies by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, a world premiere musical by three-time Tony Award-nominated creator of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 Dave Malloy, a one-man show by Will Eno, and new productions of works by Athol Fugard and Pulitzer Prize-winner Sam Shepard.

Artistic Director Paige Evans commented: "I'm so happy to be bringing Lynn Nottage and Dave Malloy to Signature next season. Lynn is known for tackling weighty subjects in her work, but she also has a wonderful sense of humor, so it's terrific to start her Residency 1 here next season with two comedies. And with Dave, we'll be producing Signature's first full-fledged musical! We'll also travel from an existential no-man's land to the South African wastelands and on to the American Southwest through the beautiful writing of Will Eno, Athol Fugard and Sam Shepard. It should be an exciting season."

In season order, the six new productions of Signature Theatre's 2018-2019 off-Broadway season are as follows:

From October 23 to December 2, 2018, Signature presents Thom Pain (based on nothing), written by Will Eno and directed by Obie Award-winner Oliver Butler, at The Irene Diamond Stage.

Synopsis: "This surreal and very real one-man show follows Thom Pain as he desperately, and hilariously, tries to save his own life...or at least make it into something worth dying for."

From November 20 to December 30, 2018, Signature presents Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine, written by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage and directed by Obie Award-winner Lileana Blain-Cruz at The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre.

Synopsis: "This satirical tale, set in present-day New York City, follows successful African-American publicist Undine as she stumbles down the social ladder after her husband steals her hard-earned fortune. Broke and now pregnant, Undine is forced to return to her childhood home in the Brooklyn projects, where she must face the challenges of the life she left behind. Fabulation reveals how difficult it is to outrun where we come from."

From January 29 to March 10, 2019, Signature presents the second Lynn Nottage production of the season - By the Way, Meet Vera Stark - directed by Kamilah Forbes, at The Irene Diamond Stage.

Synopsis: "It's the Golden Age of Hollywood, and aspiring starlet Vera Stark works as a maid to Gloria Mitchell, an aging star grasping at her fading career. Worlds collide when Vera lands a trailblazing role in an antebellum epic starring...her boss. While Vera's portrayal of a slave turns out to be groundbreaking, decades later scholars and film buffs still grapple with the actress' legacy in Hollywood and the impact that race had on her controversial career. By the Way, Meet Vera Stark will take you on a seventy-year journey through Vera's life and the cultural climate that originally shaped her and continues today."

A third Lynn Nottage play will be announced at a later date as part of Signature Theatre's 2019-2020 off-Broadway season.

From February 5 to March 17, 2019, Signature Theatre presents Boesman and Lena, written by Athol Fugard, at The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre.

Synopsis: "In Boesman and Lena, the human need for kindness, hope and compassion is on display in the struggles of abusive Boesman and his long-suffering wife Lena, who encounter a stranger while wandering the South African wastelands."

From April 23 to June 2, 2019, in memory of Pulitzer Prize-winner Sam Shepard, who passed away in 2017, Signature Theatre presents a new production of Curse of the Starving Class, directed by Terry Kinney, at The Irene Diamond Stage.

Synopsis: "Living a stagnant, unhappy existence in rural California, the struggling Tate family is desperate for change, but every family member has a different way of trying to improve their station in life."

Finally, from April 30 to June 9, 2019, Signature Theatre concludes its 2018-2019 season with a world premiere musical - Octet - written by three-time Tony Award nominee Dave Malloy and directed by Annie Tippe, at The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre.

Synopsis: "Featuring a score for an a cappella chamber choir and an original libretto inspired by internet comment boards, scientific debates, religious texts, and Sufi poetry, Octet explores addiction and nihilism within the messy context of 21st century technology."

Casting and creative team information for all productions will be announced at a later date.