Complete Casting Announced for Roundabout's The Language Archive

Complete casting has been announced for the Roundabout Theatre Company’s upcoming New York premiere of Julia Cho’s The Language Archive. Commissioned by Roundabout, the play will begin peformances at the Laura Pels Theatre on September 24 in anticipation of an October 17 opening, directed by Mark Brokaw. Cho won the 2010 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for the play.

The Language Archive stars Betty Gilpin, John Horton, Jayne Houdyshell, Matt Letscher and Heidi Schreck. Described as a quirky comedy aiming to prove that love is the one language that leaves everyone at a loss for words, the play follows George (Letscher), a man consumed with preserving and documenting the dying languages of far-flung cultures. Closer to home, however, language is failing him as he flounders through attempts to keep his wife Mary (Schreck) from leaving him and remains oblivious to the feelings his lab assistant Emma (Gilpin) has for him.

Gilpin’s off-Broadway credits include That Face, Boys’ Life and Good Boys and True. Regionally, she has been seen in What is the Cause of Thunder?, Top Girls, The Laramie Project, Earth-Leigh Delights, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail and Taxi.

Horton’s numerous Broadway credits include A Touch of the Poet, Noises Off, Kiss Me Kate, Golden Child, London Assurance, The Homecoming, Bedroom Farce, Amadeus, Allegro and Spokesong. Off-Broadway includes Damn Yankees, Engaged, The Stand-In, The Rear Column, Close of Play, A Backer’s Audition, After the Prize, Love’s Labour’s Lost and Engaged. Regionally, he has been seen in Racing Demon, Alphabetical Order, The Recruiting Officer and Heartbreak House.

Houdyshell returns to Roundabout following her performance in the recent Broadway revival of Bye Bye Birdie. She has also been seen on the Rialto in Wicked and Well, which earned her a Tony Award nomination. Numerous off-Broadway credits include The New Century, The Receptionist, The Pain and the Itch, Well, Much Ado About Nothing and Coraline. Film credits include Garden State and Changing Lanes.

Letscher is a Broadway veteran of shows such as The Rivals and Proposals. A screen regular of flicks such as Straight-Jacket, Identity, Gods and Generals, Madison, Supersucker, Lovelife, The Mask of Zorro and Nothing is Private. Television work includes Good Morning Miami, Living in Captivity, Almost Perfect, Eli Stone, The West Wing, NYPD Blue, Criminal Minds, Entourage and King of Texas.

Schreck’s New York theater credits include Drum of the Waves, Open House, Amazons and Their Men, Unfold Me, Women of Trachis, Major Barbara, The Internationalist, Circle Mirror Transformation and Demon Baby. Regional credits include The Convention of Cartography, Hedda Gabler, The Seagull, As You Like It and the original Roundabout workshop of The Language of Trees.

The design team for The Language Archive includes Neil Patel (sets), Michael Krass (costumes), Marc McCullough (lights) and David Van Tieghem (sound).