Two World Premieres Highlight New Second Stage Season

Second Stage Theatre has announced plans for its 2005-2006 season. It will kick-off in September with a revival of Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize-winning A Soldier's Play, followed by the world premiere of Douglas Carter Beane's The Little Dog Laughed, a world premiere of a play by Paul Weitz and then the New York premiere of Theresa Rebeck's The Water's Edge with Kate Burton and Tony Goldwyn.

A Soldier's Play takes the audience into the heart of a murder investigation on a Louisiana Army base during World War Two. The victim is a brutal, self-hating black soldier, Sergeant Vernon Waters. The investigator sent by the Army is, for that era, a rarity: a black officer, who must square off against Waters' white commander. Who killed Waters finally comes to light. As for why--the answer turns out to be as complicated as the whole history of race in America. Jo Bonney will helm the production.

The Little Dog Laughed centers on a Hollywood agent, her very promising, up-and-coming boy-toy client, a sexy young drifter and the drifter's girlfriend. This comedy about gossip and scandal will be directed by Mark Brokaw.

Weitz worked with Second Stage Theatre this past season on Privilege, which received mixed reviews, but was a popular success. There is no description or director set for his new play.

The Water's Edge tells the story of a woman Burton and her two children, whose lakeside home is invaded by her long estranged ex-husband Goldwyn and his new girlfriend who claim ownership of the house. And to make things a little more awkward, there's the minor complication that mom and dad may not have officially ended things.

Second Stage is still in the midst of its 2004-2005 season. Its final season entry, Birdie Blue began performances just last week.