World Premieres by Neil LaBute & Four Other New Works Set for 2017-2018 MCC Theater Season

World premieres by Jocelyn Bioh, JC Lee, Neil LaBute and Lucy Thurber and a New York premiere by Philip Dawkins fill out the 31st season at off-Broadway's MCC Theater. All productions will play the Lucille Lortel Theatre.

The season will begin with the New York premiere of Charm by Dawkins and directed by Will Davis. In the play, when Mama Darleena Andrews—a 67-year-old, black, transgender woman—takes it upon herself to teach an etiquette class at Chicago’s LGBTQ community center, the idealistic teachings of Emily Post clash with the very real life challenges of identity, poverty and prejudice faced by her students. Previews are set to begin August 31 with an opening scheduled for September 18. The limited run will play through October 8.

Next up is a world premiere by Bioh titled School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play, directed by Rebecca Taichman. Paulina, the reigning Queen Bee at Ghana's most exclusive boarding school, has her sights set on the Miss Universe pageant. But the mid-year arrival of Ericka, a new student with undeniable talent and beauty, captures the attention of the pageant recruiter – and Paulina’s hive-minded friends. Previews are set to kick off November 2 with an opening scheduled for November 19. The run will play through December 10.

Relevance, a world premiere by Lee, will be directed by Tony nominee Liesl Tommy. In the play, when a heated exchange between two writers goes viral, Theresa finds herself ill-equipped to manage her message in the era of 140-character tweets-especially against a rival whose time may have come. Previews will begin February 1, 2018, with opening night set for February 21, 2018. The show will run through March 11, 2018.

Thurber's world premiere play Transfers, directed by Jackson Gay, will be next in the season. In the play, Cristofer and Clarence are two gifted students from the South Bronx. After two years at a local community college being coached by faculty members, the young men are competing for a life-changing scholarship at an elite northeast university. During a campus visit, the young men are unexpectedly confronted with their shared past while trying to break through a system that seems designed to keep them on the outside. Previews will start April 5, 2018 with an opening set for April 23, 2018. The limited engagement will play through May 13, 2018.

Closing out the season will be LaBute's Reasons to Be Pretty Happy, a follow up to his prior MCC plays Reasons to Be Pretty and Reasons to Be Happy. Leigh Silverman will direct the new work. After five years in New York, Greg and Steph return to their blue-collar hometown for their 20th high school reunion and to a dramatic encounter with Kent and Carly, the friends they left behind. Old secrets and new lies become increasingly difficult to hide as the evening (and the drinking) goes on. Previews will begin August 16, 2018 with an opening night set for September 9, 2018. The run will conclude September 23, 2018.

MCC Theater broke ground on its first permanent home on March 22, 2016. Set to open in 2018, the space will unite MCC’s diverse roster of programs under one roof for the first time in the company’s three-decade history.