Every day is opening night.

Contact:
Rick Miramontez / Richard Hillman
rick@oandmco.com / richard@oandmco.com
212-695-7400

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

New York, NY (8/11/11) – Rattlestick Playwrights Theater announced today complete casting for the world premiere of Asuncion, a new play written by Academy Award-nominee (The Social Network) and playwright Jesse Eisenberg. Joining the previously announced Mr. Eisenberg are Remy Auberjonois (The Country Girl, Frost/Nixon), Justin Bartha (Lend Me A Tenor, The Hangover 1&2) and Camille Mana (Smart People, “One on One”) making her Off-Broadway debut in the title role. The production will be presented at The Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street) with performances beginning on October 12. Opening Night is set for October 27. The production is scheduled to run through November 27. Kip Fagan directs.

In Asuncion, Edgar and Vinny are not racist. In fact, Edgar maintains a blog condemning American imperialism and Vinny is three-quarters into a PhD in Black Studies. When a young Filipina woman named Asuncion becomes their new roommate, the pair have a perfect opportunity to demonstrate how open minded they truly are.

The performance schedule is: Tuesday – Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm & 8pm, Sunday at 3pm. Individual tickets are not yet on sale for this production, although memberships and subscription packages 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

Kip Fagan (Director) recently directed Reggie Watts and Tommy Smith's Radio Play at P.S. 122, as well as the world premiere of Jordan Harrison's Futura at Portland Center Stage in Portland, Oregon. NYC credits include: Heidi Schreck’s There Are No More Big Secrets (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), Sheila Callaghan’s Roadkill Confidential (Clubbed Thumb), Sam Hunter’s Jack’s Precious Moment (P73 at 59E59), Sheila Callaghan’s Recess (The Flea), Zayd Dohrn’s Reborning (SPF), Sheila Callaghan’s That Pretty Pretty; or, The Rape Play (Rattlestick), Greg Keller’s The Young Left (Cherry Lane), Cory Hinkle’s Cipher (SPF), Mark Greenfield’s I.E. In Other Words (The Flea), Sam Marks’s Nelson (Partial Comfort), Christopher Durang’s Not a Creature Was Stirring (The Flea), and Rachel Hoeffel’s Quail (Clubbed Thumb). Other regional: Jennifer Haley’s Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom (Humana Festival), Len Jenkin’s Limbo Tales (Todd Mountain), Tommy Smith and Gabriel Kahane’s musical Goodnight Mecca (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Craig Lucas’s Small Tragedy (The Playwrights Center), Kenneth Lonergan’s The Waverly Gallery (Empty Space Theatre), and several plays with Printer’s Devil in Seattle, which he co-founded. Kip has developed new work at Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Vineyard Theatre, Naked Angels, New Dramatists, Ars Nova, Young Playwrights Festival, The Lark, Huntington Theatre, McCarter Theatre, Hartford Stage, The Playwrights Center, and Bay Area Playwrights Festival. He has taught or directed at SUNY Purchase, The Juilliard School, NYU Graduate Acting, Atlantic Theatre Company School, and Saint Martin’s College. He was a 2003-2004 NEA/TCG directing fellowship recipient and was the 2007 Bill Foeller directing fellow at Williamstown. Upcoming: Reggie Watts and Tommy Smith’s Transition at the Bushwick Starr.

Jesse Eisenberg (Playwright/Edgar) is the author of two plays, The Revisionist and Asuncion, and has written the music and lyrics to Me Time!, a musical. As an actor, he has appeared in the films The Squid and the Whale, Adventureland, Zombieland, Roger Dodger and 3o Minutes or Less. On stage, Jesse starred opposite Al Pacino in Lyle Kessler's Orphans and in Lucy Thurber's Scarcity. He received critical acclaim for his performance in The Social Network for which he earned the Best Actor Award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures and an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor.

Remy Auberjonois (Stuart) Broadway: The Country Girl, Frost/Nixon. New York: Atlantic Theater, the Public, Primary Stages, Studio Dante, Rattlestick, Soho Rep, EST, HERE and others. Regional includes Williamstown Festival, Yale Repertory, the Old Globe, McCarter, Dallas Theater Center, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Mark Taper. TV includes multiple “30 Rock” and “Law & Order” episodes, “Weeds,” “Mad Men,” “Criminal Intent,” “SVU,” “Sopranos,” “Sex and the City,” “ER.” Film: Fair Game, The International, Michael Clayton and others. Member AEA.

Justin Bartha (Vinny) is currently appearing in Zach Braff’s comedy All New People at Second Stage. He made his Broadway debut in the recent revival of Lend Me A Tenor, opposite Tony Shalhoub and Anthony LaPaglia. Bartha starred in the Warner Bros. blockbuster The Hangover alongside Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms, and appears in the sequel, The Hangover II. His many film credits include the romantic comedy The Rebound opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones; the independent drama Holy Rollers, opposite Jesse Eisenberg; New York, I Love You; Failure to Launch; Trust the Man; Gigli; National Treasure; and National Treasure: Book of Secrets. On television, Bartha starred in Sidney Lumet’s “Thought Crimes,” an HBO film produced by Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson. He also starred as the title character in the NBC comedy “Teachers,” directed by James Burrows. Bartha studied acting at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Camille Mana (Asuncion) Named one of the Ten Promising Asian-Americans to Watch (East West Magazine), Camille Mana made her big screen debut as “Missy Chin” in Smart People (Official Sundance Selection) opposite Dennis Quaid. Other films include College, Why Am I Doing This, Speed-Dating and The Samurai of Strongsville, Ohio. She got her big break on television starring as “Lisa,” the quirky underachiever on the revamped hit UPN sitcom “One on One.” Ms. Mana completed her Economics degree at U.C. Berkeley in just six semesters and her acting accolades include the LAMDA Gold Medal with Distinction, honoring promising young American students, and her writing has been featured in publications such as Backstage and Elle Girl.

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