Theresa Rebeck's The Scene Eyeing Second Stage Run in 2006-2007

A black comedy that takes on New York, the entertainment industry, marriage and even Ohio, The Scene centers on three old friends hitting middle age who have their worlds upended by the new hot, young thing.

The show earned great notices during a recent run at the prestigious Humana Festival. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote of the piece: "On paper, Ms. Rebeck's play might seem simple to the point of schematic. But scenes that could come across as boilerplate domestic drama—wife discovers husband and mistress in flagrante; wife seeks comfort from husband's best friend, who has long carried a torch for her—crackle with raw, even brutal feeling, and all the play's characters are drawn with empathy and insight. Even the seemingly clichéd femme fatale... accrues unexpected layers of complexity."

Rebecca Bayla Taichman, who directed the Humana mounting, will reprise her duties off-Broadway. A spokesperson for Second Stage Theatre could not confirm the selection of The Scene. However, the company is completely set to do a Rebeck show this season—the scribe's The Water's Edge begins performances at Second Stage on May 23.