Gregory Bastien, Michael Carlsen Lead Rattlestick Playwrights' THE WOOD

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Rattlestick Playwrights Theater has announced the cast and creative team for the world premiere of The Wood, a new play written by award-winning filmmaker Dan Klores. Opening the company's 17th season, performances of The Wood will begin Wednesday, August 31 at Rattlestick Theater (224 Waverly Place - off Seventh Avenue South, between Perry & West 11th Streets). The official opening night is set for Thursday, September 8. The production is scheduled to run through October 9. David Bar Katz directs.

Dan Klores, whose first play, Little Doc, premiered at Rattlestick last season, has written a funny, riveting new play about Mike McAlary, the larger than life columnist for the Daily News and the New York Post and his missionary zeal to ferret out the truth. A Pulitzer Prize-winner for his exposé of the New York polIce Torture of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima in 1997, McAlary died of colon cancer on Christmas Day 1998 at the age of 41.

"Mike's life was made for theatre," says Klores. "He was filled with energy, genius and courage. He was a tough and shrewd New Yorker with a b.s. barometer that clicked in from the get go."

The cast features Gregory Bastien, Michael Carlsen, Melanie Charles, David Deblinger, Kim Director, Thomas Kopache, John Viscardi and Sidney Williams.

The creative team features John McDermott (scenic design), Kalere A. Payton (costume design), Joel Moritz (lighting design), Janie Bullard (sound design), Steve Channon (projection design) and Nina Alexander (properties). Jamie Wolfe is Production Stage Manager and Sam Horwith is Assistant Stage Manager.

The performance schedule is as follows: Wednesday - Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 3pm and Monday at 8pm. Tickets are $55 and are available through TicketCentral.com/212- 279-6200.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater is a multi-award-winning company which has produced over fifty world premieres in the past sixteen seasons and was the recipient of the 2007 Ross Wetzsteon Memorial OBIE Award for its work developing new and innovative work. Rattlestick's Advisory Board participates in The Emerging Playwrights Project, which matches a new playwright with an established artist for an experienced eye and creative support. Playwright and artist mentors have included Edward Albee, Jon Robin Baitz, Zoe Caldwell, Arthur Kopit, Craig Lucas, Joe Mantello, Terrence McNally and Marsha Norman. Previous plays include Two Boys in a Bed, Message to Michael, Carpool, Volunteer Man, A Trip to the Beach, Ascendancy, Stuck, Vick's Boy, The Messenger, Saved or Destroyed, Neil's Garden, My Special Friend, Faster, Bliss, St. Crispin's Day, Where We're Born, Five Flights, Boise, Finer Noble Gases, God Hates The Irish: The Ballad of Armless Johnny, Miss Julie, Acts of Mercy: passion-play, Cagelove, It Goes Without Saying, Dark Matters, Stay, American Sligo, Rag and Bone, War, Geometry of Fire, That Pretty Pretty; or The Rape Play, The Amish Project, Killers and Other Family, Post No Bills, Blind, Little Doc, underneathmybed, There Are No More Big Secrets, The Hallway Trilogy, Carson McCullers Talks About Love, the Off-Broadway GLAAD Award-nominated hit The Last Sunday in June, Craig Wright's The Pavilion (Drama Desk nominee - Outstanding Play of 2005) and Lady (Drama Desk nominee - Outstanding Play of 2008), as well as The Aliens by Annie Baker (2010 Obie Award winner for Best New American Play).

Bios

Dan Klores (Playwright) is an Award-winning director and playwright who has made six films during the last eight years, four of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. These Films include The Boys of 2nd Street Park (2003), Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story (2005), and most recently, Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks. Mr. Klores has received widespread recognition for his work and has been awarded the 2008 Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary for Crazy Love (2007) and the Peabody Award for his film Black Magic (2008). Mr. Klores made his debut as a playwright in 2010 with his play, Little Doc, which premiered at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Klores is a regular columnist for Grantland.com, Bill Simmons and ESPN's new sports and pop culture web magazine. His first feature film, Dance to the Music, produced by GreeneStreet Films, is about to begin shooting. Mr. Klores grew up in Brooklyn and resides in Manhattan with his wife Abbe and their three sons, Jake, Sam and Luke.