Ethan Hawke to Direct Jonathan Marc Sherman Play for The New Group

Tony nominee Ethan Hawke has signed on to direct Jonathan Marc Sherman's Things We Want for The New Group, one of three productions announced as part of the off-Broadway company's 2007-2008 season. Also on tap will be Mike Leigh's Two Thousand Years, directed by New Group artistic director Scott Elliott, and Kevin Elyot's Mouth to Mouth, directed by Mark Brokaw. No dates or casting have been announced.

Hawke co-starred in Sherman's 1993 play Sophistry at Playwrights Horizons in a cast that included Calista Flockhart, Austin Pendleton, Anthony Rapp, Steve Zahn and the playwright. Nominated for a 2007 Best Featured Actor Tony for The Coast of Utopia, Hawke has directed the films Straight to One, Chelsea Walls and The Hottest State, based on his novel.

Elliott has collaborated with Leigh on four New Group mountings of the British playwright's works, including the company's first production, Ecstasy, in 1995, Goose-Pimples, Smelling a Rat and Abigail's Party. Two Thousand Years premiered at the National Theatre in London in September 2006.

The New Group presented Elyot's My Night With Reg during its 1996-97 season.