Spring Awakening, Jenny Chow, Pinter & McDonagh on Atlantic Bill

The Atlantic Theatre Company 2005-2006 season will open with the New York premiere of Rolin Jones' The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, followed by presentations of a Harold Pinter double-bill consisting of Celebration and The Room, Martin McDonagh's The Lieutenant of Inishmore and the world premiere of the oft-discussed musical version of Spring Awakening.

The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow centers on Jennifer, who is just an average girl who re-engineers obsolete missile components for the U.S. Army from her bedroom. Afraid to leave her house, yet desperate to find her birth mother in China, she uses her technological genius to devise a new form of human contact. Jackson Gay will direct the mounting, which is scheduled to run August 31 through October 16.

Playing November 16 through January 8, 2006 is the evening composed of The Room and Celebration. The Room is Pinter's first play and Celebration his most recent work. Celebration opens on a wedding anniversary in an ultra-trendy restaurant, with three successful couples jockeying for the upper hand. In contrast, The Room descends into a nightmare world of insecurity and uncertainty in a shabby one-room London flat. Atlantic Artistic Director Neil Pepe will helm the double bill off-Broadway.

The Lieutenant of Inishmore is set in 1993 in County Galway on the rocky island of Inishmore, off the coast of Ireland. Padraic is a terrorist with no feeling for those he kills, yet has an obsessive attachment to Thomas, his beloved cat. But someone has murdered poor wee Thomas. Was it an accident or an execution? Either way, the death must be concealed before 'Mad Padraic' returns from a stint of torture and bombing. The play, once expected to make its American premiere with the MCC Theatre, has a long history. McDonagh publicly criticized London producers after both the National and Royal Court Theatres passed on the controversial play in the late 1990s. Finally, the Royal Shakespeare Company decided to produce it and the piece ended up receiving mostly positive reviews. This American premiere of The Lieutenant of Inishmore, directed by Wilson Milam, is scheduled to run at the Atlantic from February 8 through April 9.

Spring Awakening, which features music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater, was originally expected to hit New York during the 2002-2003 season, when The Roundabout Theatre Company announced it for its off-Broadway home. The production was delayed and very little was heard about the tuner until it was part of the American Songbook concert series at Lincoln Center this past season. Inspired by Frank Wedekind's classic tale of sexual confusion and repression, Spring Awakening explores the joys and hardships of growing up at the dawn of the 21st century. Michael Mayer is set to direct the tuner, which is scheduled to play May 10 through July 2.

The Atlantic Theatre Company recently completed its 2004-2005 season with a mounting of The Cherry Orchard.