Annette Bening is returning to Broadway. The Oscar and Tony-nominated actress, who has not been on the Great White Way since she made her debut in 1987, will star in Joanna Murray-Smith's The Female of the Species. The play, directed by 2007 Tony winner Michael Mayer, will begin performances on April 11 and open on April 28 at a theater to be announced.
In this new work by Australian playwright Murray-Smith Honour, Bening plays Margot Mason, a feminist literary giant suffering an extreme case of writer's block as deadline after deadline comes and goes on her next book. When a young fan arrives unexpectedly at her country home, Margot's world slowly and comically begins to unravel as family and friends show up and debate the virtues of her bestsellers, her inconsistent world view and her decidedly unmotherly touch.
Bening made her Broadway debut in Tina Howe's Coastal Disturbances and received a Tony Award nomination for her performance. Her other stage credits include Spoils of War off-Broadway and Los Angeles productions of The Cherry Orchard Center Theater Group, Talking Heads Tiffany Theater and Hedda Gabler Geffen Playhouse. Her numerous regional theatre productions include Arms and the Man, Pygmalion, The Chalk Garden, Our Town, The Sleeping Prince, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, King John, Anthony and Cleopatra, Hamlet and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Bening, who is known for her successful Hollywood career, has many film credit, including Running With Scissors Golden Globe nomination; Being Julia Golden Globe Award, National Board of Review Award, Oscar and SAG nominations, What Planet Are You From?. American Beauty SAG and BAFTA awards, Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, In Dreams, The Siege, The Grifters Oscar nomination, The American President Golden Globe nomination, Mars Attacks!, Richard III, Open Range, Love Affair, Bugsy Golden Globe nomination, Regarding Henry, Guilty By Suspicion, Valmont, Postcards From The Edge and The Great Outdoors. Bening also notably starred in the HBO television film Mrs. Harris Emmy, SAG, and Golden Globe nominations.
The Female of the Species will be produced in association with Los Angeles's Geffen Playhouse, where the play will have its American premiere in a pre-Broadway engagement from February 5 through March 16.
