Works by McPherson, Parnell, Coen & More on Tap at Atlantic Theater

Atlantic Theater Company's 2007-2008 main stage season will feature world premieres from playwrights Lucy Thurber, Peter Parnell and Jez Butterworth, plus a New York premiere from Tony-nominated playwright Conor McPherson. The off-Broadway company's Stage 2 season will include world premieres from Oscar-winning filmmaker Ethan Coen and Annie Baker.

The complete schedule for the main stage season at the company's Linda Gross Theater is as follows:

Scarcity, a world premiere by Lucy Thurber, will begin previews on August 29, open on September 20 and run through October 14. Set in rural western Massachusetts, Scarcity tells the tale of two siblings whose aspirations to escape the confines of poverty and small-town life come into direct conflict with their sense of family responsibility. When 16-year-old Billy is afforded an opportunity to change schools and move out of town by an unusually attentive young teacher, his family starts to unravel around him.

Peter Parnell's Trumpery will have its world premiere in a production that begins previews on November 14, opens December 10 and is scheduled to run through December 30. In 1858, Charles Darwin struggles to finish The Origin of Species and give the world his theory of natural selection, while coping with family illness and his own loss of faith. Meanwhile, halfway around the world, an unknown explorer is about to come up with the exact same theory. Parnell's adaptation of John Irving's The Cider House Rules was presented at Atlantic in 1999.

Atlantic Artistic Director Neil Pepe will direct the world premiere of Jez Butterworth's Parlour Song, which will begin previews on February 8, 2008, open on March 6 and run through March 30. Parlour Song explores what happens when two ordinary people discover they hate who they have become. In his first American world premiere production, British playwright Butterworth reveals a fascinating world where all is not what it seems, when a demolitions expert suspects his wife is stealing from him. The playwright's Mojo and The Night Heron were previously produced at Atlantic.

The New York premiere of Conor McPherson's Port Authority will round out the main stage season in a production that begins previews on April 30, 2008, opens on May 21, and runs through June 22, directed by Henry Wishcamper. Set against the backdrop of contemporary Dublin, Port Authority weaves the stories of three generations of Irishmen as they experience loss, failure and the elusiveness of love. McPherson Shining City, The Weir exposes the heart of the common man in his return to Atlantic following his acclaimed production of Dublin Carol.

Atlantic Stage 2, the company's new state-of-the-art theater, will feature world premiere limited engagements of three short plays by Oscar-winning filmmaker Ethan Coen O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, directed by Artistic Director Neil Pepe and set for January 2008, and Annie Baker's comedy Body Awareness, to staged by Atlantic founding member Karen Kohlhaas The Hothouse in May 2008.