Photo Flash: First Look at New Group/ Tectonic Theatre's ONE ARM

The New Group and Tectonic Theater Project proudly present One Arm, set to play through July 2 in a limited Off-Broadway engagement marking a New York premiere. Based on a short story and unproduced screenplay by Tennessee Williams, One Arm is adapted for the stage and directed by Moisés Kaufman. Official Opening Night is slated for Thursday, June 9 at 7:00 PM at The New Group @ Theatre Row.

One Arm is an adaptation by Moisés Kaufman of an unproduced screenplay by Tennessee Williams, based on Williams' provocative and personal 1948 short story. One Arm follows Ollie, a young boxing champ described as "lightning in leather," who turns to hustling after an accident claims his arm. Bitter and detached, he cuts a path through a disenfranchised American underworld in the late 1960s, until at last he's pushed to violence. One Arm traces Ollie's encounters with strangers, many of them men, and his odyssey from emotional isolation toward a last chance at human connection.

One Arm features Noah Bean, KC Comeaux, Claybourne Elder (Ollie), Steven Hauck, Todd Lawson, Christopher McCann, Greg Pierotti and Larisa Polonsky.

The production includes Set Design by Derek McLane, Costume Design by Clint Ramos, Lighting Design by David Lander and Original Music and Sound Design by Shane Rettig. Fight Direction is by David Anzuelo. Dialect Coach is Doug Paulson. Dramaturgy by David G. Schultz. Associate Direction by Jimmy Maize.

Moisés Kaufman is a Tony and Emmy nominated director and playwright. His most recent play, 33 Variations, was nominated for five Tony Awards. Kaufman directed the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning play I Am My Own Wife, earning him an Obie Award for his direction as well as Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel nominations. His plays Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and The Laramie Project are among the most performed plays in America over the last decade. Kaufman also directed the film adaptation of The Laramie Project for HBO, which was the opening night Performances Magazine P11 selection at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and won the National Board of Review Award, the Humanitas Prize and a Special Mention for Best First Film at the Berlin Film Festival. The film also earnEd Kaufman two Emmy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Writer. Other recent credits include Macbeth with Liev Schreiber (Public Theater), This Is How It Goes (Donmar Warehouse), Master Class with Rita Moreno (Berkeley Repertory Theatre) and Lady Windermere's Fan (Williamstown Theatre Festival). His production of Bengal Tiger at the Bagdad Zoo is currently on Broadway, starring Robin Williams. He is the Artistic Director of Tectonic Theater Project and a Guggenheim Fellow in Playwriting.

Moisés Kaufman and Tectonic Theater Project have been adapting this script over the past decade. Readings were produced in collaboration with The Steppenwolf Theatre Company and AboutFace Theatre (Chicago) in 2004 (supported in part by The National Endowment of the Arts), New York City in early 2010 and Georgetown University later that year.

The New Group (Scott Elliott, Artistic Director; Geoff Rich, Executive Director) began its 2010-11 season with the world premiere of Tommy Nohilly's Blood From A Stone and the current revival of Wallace Shawn's Marie and Bruce starring Marisa Tomei and Frank Whaley, directed by Scott Elliott. Last season, The New Group presented the extended run of Kenneth Lonergan's The Starry Messenger featuring Matthew Broderick, the sold-out revival of Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind directed by Ethan Hawke, and the world premiere of the new musical The Kid, directed by Scott Elliott. Other recent productions include Ian Bruce's Groundswell, Eugene O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra, Ayub Khan-Din's Rafta, Rafta..., Jonathan Marc Sherman's Things We Want, Jay Presson Allen's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Bernard Weinraub's The Accomplices. Additional standouts include David Rabe's Hurlyburly, Mike Leigh's Two Thousand Years, Abigail's Party, Smelling a Rat, Goose-Pimples and Ecstasy, Wallace Shawn's The Fever and Aunt Dan and Lemon, Kenneth Lonergan's This is Our Youth and Kevin Elyot's Mouth to Mouth and My Night With Reg. The New Group is a recipient of the 2004 Tony® Award for Best Musical (Avenue Q). Most recently, The New Group was honored with several nominations for The Kid, including Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Award nominations (Outstanding Musical) and recognized with Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for The Kid (Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical) and Blood From A Stone (Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play). Additionally, the company and Artistic Director Scott Elliott have been cited by Drama Desk 2010-2011 with a Special Award for presenting contemporary new voices, and for uncompromisingly raw and powerful productions.

Tectonic Theater Project, founded in 1991 by Moisés Kaufman and Jeffrey LaHoste, is an award-winning company dedicated to developing innovative works that explore theatrical language and form, fostering an artistic dialogue with audiences on social, political and human issues. Tectonic supports readings, workshops and full theatrical productions, as well as training for students around the country in its play-making techniques. Tectonic refers to the art and science of structure and was chosen to emphasize the company's interest in construction -- how things are made, and how they might be made differently. The company's plays The Laramie Project, Gross Indecency: The Three Trials Of Oscar Wilde and I Am My Own Wife have sparked national discourse about their subjects and inspired artists and audiences worldwide. In its early years, Tectonic staged works by writers who were testing the boundaries of the theatrical form: Samuel Beckett, Franz Xaver Kroetz, Sophie Treadwell and Naomi Iizuka. In time, Kaufman realized that in order to be rigorous about exploring theatrical form, the company had to deal with the issue of text. He set about writing his first play, Gross Indecency, based on transcripts, biographies, letters and other found materials about the life and work of Oscar Wilde. Tectonic followed Gross Indecency with another bold experiment in form: The Laramie Project. One month after the murder of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, Kaufman and ten company members traveled to Laramie to interview people in the town torn apart by the crime. The play forged from these interviews was created collaboratively by members of the company over a long workshop process in which participants were encouraged to operate outside their area of specialization. Thus, actors and designers became writers and dramaturgs, directors became designers and actors, and the company uncovered a new way of creating a theatrical event. Tectonic continues to employ these techniques in creating unique and innovative works.

One Arm plays at The New Group @ Theatre Row (The Acorn Theatre / 410 West 42nd Street, between 9th & 10th Aves) as follows: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at 7:00 PM and Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8:00 PM. Matinees Saturday at 2:00 PM. Tickets may be arranged through www.telecharge.com or (212) 239-6200 , or at the Theatre Row Box Office (12-8 PM daily). Tickets are $60.00 plus $1.25 restoration fee. For more info, visit www.thenewgroup.org

Photo Credit: Monique Carboni

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