Lois Smith will headline the world premiere of Kate Fodor's 100 Saints You Should Know, the first mainstage production in the upcoming season at Playwrights Horizons. The play will begin previews on August 24 and open off-Broadway on September 18, directed by Ethan McSweeny.
In 100 Saints You Should Know, Theresa cleans the rectory of the local parish to support her unruly teenage daughter. When its priest is forced to leave the church under uncertain circumstances and return home to his protective mother Smith, Theresa finds herself compelled to pursue him. One eventful night joins them all, forcing a reckoning with the broken memories and shaken faith that divides them—and the discovery of a shared, tenuous common ground. Casting of the play's other roles will be announced in the coming months.
Smith's last stage appearance was her acclaimed performance in Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful at Signature Theatre, for which she received an Obie Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award and the Kingsley-Evans Award. Smith made her Broadway debut in 1952 in Time Out for Ginger and her Broadway credits include The Grapes of Wrath Tony nomination, Buried Child Tony nomination, The Young and Beautiful, The Iceman Cometh and the original production of Orpheus Descending. She is an ensemble member at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre and a longtime member of The Actors Studio. Her many films include her debut in East of Eden with James Dean and Five Easy Pieces National Society of Film Critics Award.
