Pratt Out, Chastain In at Rodney's Wife Off-B'way

Susan May Pratt, best known for her roles in the films Drive Me Crazy and Center Stage, has withdrawn from the upcoming Playwrights Horizons production of Richard Nelson's Rodney's Wife in order to appear in a film. Jessica Chastain will serve as her replacement. Jesse Pennington has also been added to the cast, which already included David Strathairn, Maryann Plunkett, Haviland Morris and John Rothman.

Chastain is a graduate of Juilliard, where she appeared in productions of Sir Patient Fancy, King Stag, The Trojan Women and Romeo and Juliet. This past summer, she played Anya in The Cherry Orchard at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. She has appeared on the small screen in ER, Veronica Mars and Dark Shadows.

Rodney's Wife marks Pennington's fifth Nelson credit, as he has previously appeared in The General from America with Theatre for a New Audience, Franny's Way at Playwrights Horizons and the Geffen Playhouse, James Joyce's The Dead at Huntington Theater and the American Conservatory Theater and Goodnight Children Everywhere at A.C.T.. In addition to his Nelson work, his Gotham stage credits include A Place at the Table, The Winter's Tale and The Taming of the Shrew.

Rodney's Wife takes place in Rome in 1962, but to a group of visiting Americans, it feels more like the far edge of the known world. Rodney Strathairn is a forgotten movie actor, and is in Rome filming one of the first "Spaghetti Westerns." He is living in a villa in the city with Lee Chastain, his 25-year-old daughter; Eva Plunkett, his recently widowed sister; Henry Rothman, his new manager; and his second wife, Fay Morris. Household relations are strained when Fay's reaction to the news of Lee's unexpected engagement is less than enthusiastic. The play premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in July with Strathairn, Plunkett, Morris, Pratt, Rothman and Tom Sadoski who is busy with Reckless.

Rodney's Wife is scheduled to begin previews at Playwrights' Mainstage on November 12 in preparation for a December 1 opening.