Stephen Rea to Star in Sam Shepard's Kicking a Dead Horse at the Public

Stephen Rea is set to star in Sam Shepard's Kicking a Dead Horse at the Public Theaer. The new piece by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright will conclude the Public's 2007-2008 season. The show, directed by the author, will begin performances at the Public on June 25 and officially open on July 14.

Kicking a Dead Horse is about the West, a Manhattan art dealer and a dead horse. It debuted at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 2007 and marks the fifth Shepard play to make its American premiere at the Public, though it will be the first to do so in over a decade. Shepard's last premiere there was Simpatico in 1994. Additional Public productions od Shepard works include Curse of the Starving Class, Tongues and True West. His play Buried Child won a Pulitzer Prize in 1979.

Rea is best known for his Academy Award-nominated performance in the 1992 film The Crying Game. The Irish actor also received a Tony Award nomination in 1993 for the play Someone Who'll Watch Over Me. An accomplished stage and screen actor, Rea's film credits include Till Death, V for Vendetta, The Good Shepherd, The End of the Affair, Interview with a Vampire and Fever Pitch among many others.

Kicking a Dead Horse will run through July 27.