CLIVE, Starring Ethan Hawke, Begins Performances

The New Group presents the world premiere of Clive, written by Jonathan Marc Sherman and directed by and featuring Ethan Hawke in the title role. This production features Brooks Ashmanskas, Vincent D'Onofrio, Stephanie Janssen, Mahira Kakkar, Zoe Kazan, Aaron Krohn, Dana Lyn and Jonathan Marc Sherman, with Music and Sound Sculptures by GAINES. Clive plays a limited Off-Broadway engagement January 17 through March 9 at The New Group at Theatre Row (The Acorn Theatre / 410 West 42nd Street). Official Opening Night is Thursday, February 7 at 7:00pm.

Inspired by Bertolt Brecht's inflammatory play Baal, Clive tracks a dissipated songwriter in 1990s New York City from the hedonistic heights of seduction and consumption into an ecstasy of self-destruction. This production reunites playwright Jonathan Marc Sherman and director Ethan Hawke, who teamed previously at The New Group on Things We Want (written by Sherman, directed by Hawke, 2007 extended run). At once a celebration and a nightmare vision of life lived for pleasure, Clive boasts an eclectic selection of classic American songs performed live.

Ethan Hawke appears in the title role, joined by Brooks Ashmanskas (B'way: Promises, Promises, Present Laughter, The Ritz, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me (Tony nom.), The Producers, Gypsy, Little Me, Dream, How to Succeed...; Film: Julie & Julia, Little Children), Vincent D'Onofrio (B'way: Open Admissions; Off-B'way: Tooth of Crime (Second Dance); Film: Full Metal Jacket, Mystic Pizza, Adventures in Babysitting, Steal This Movie, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, Chelsea Walls, Happy Accidents, The Player, Ed Wood, Strange Days, Stuart Saves His Family, Men in Black, The Whole Wide World, JFK and the Academy Award-winning short The New Tenants; TV credits include "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "HOMICIDE: Life on the Street"-Emmy award nom.), Stephanie Janssen (B'way: Death of a Salesman, Mrs. Warren's Profession; Off-B'way: Ivanov, Blackbird), Mahira Kakkar (Off-B'way: Harper Regan, Miss Witherspoon, Opus, Sophistry, No Word in Guyanese for Me), Zoe Kazan (B'way: A Behanding in Spokane, The Seagull, Come Back, Little Sheba; Off-B'way: at The New Group: Things We Want, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, also 100 Saints You Should Know; as a playwright: We Live Here - MTC, also Absalom; Film: Ruby Sparks (wrote screenplay, starred opposite Paul Dano and served as executive producer), Revolutionary Road, It's Complicated), Aaron Krohn (B'way: The Farnsworth Invention, The Coast of Utopia, Julius Caesar, Henry IV; also BAM/The Bridge Project: The Tempest, As You Like It), Dana Lyn (BAM/The Bridge Project) and Jonathan Marc Sherman (most recently appeared in Ivanov - CSC; Film: Death and the Red Dress, The Hottest State, among others).