The Language of Trees Next Up at Roundabout Underground

Steven Levenson's The Language of Trees will be the second production of Roundabout Underground, an initiative launched by Roundabout Theatre Company in 2007 to introduce and cultivate new plays in the company's 62-seat Black Box Theatre, at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre. Directed by Alex Timbers, The Language of Trees will begin previews performances on October 3 and will officially open on October 29 for a limited engagement.

The Language of Trees is described as a boldly theatrical and provocative new play about the fragility of language, the ecology of war and the meaning of neighborliness in an age of terror. When an American translator is sent into a U.S. war zone in the Middle East, a friendly neighbor volunteers to help out his wife and young son. As events abroad spiral out of control, the lives of all the characters are turned upside down.

In line with Roundabout's aim to showcase promising talent, Levenson is a recent graduate of Brown University, and Timbers is the Obie-winning artistic director of the downtown theater group Les Frères Corbusier. Among Timbers' recent credits was the off-Broadway production of Gutenberg! The Musical!. No casting for The Language of Trees has been announced.

The inaugural production of Roundabout Underground was a sold-out run of Stephen Karam's acclaimed play Speech & Debate, which extended twice in the fall of 2007, running 10 weeks longer than originally planned. All tickets for Roundabout Underground productions are $20.