Fishburne, Bening & Modine Lead Geffen Playhouse’s 2009-2010 Season

Laurence Fishburne, Annette Bening and Matthew Modine will star in productions at the Geffen Playhouse’s 2009-2010 season in Los Angeles.

Modine will begin the season by starring as himself in the world premiere of Matthew Modine Saves the Alpacas, a Hollywood satire written by Blair Singer. It follows Modine, an A-List star in the 80s in films such as Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, as he attempts to get back in the limelight by campaigning for a good cause, to save the alpacas of the Chimborazzi tribe in South American village. Performances run September 8 through October 18, with an opening scheduled for September 16. A director has yet to be announced.

Bening returns to the Geffen in Joanna Murray-Smith’s The Female of the Species. Loosely inspired by a real-life incident involving feminist philosopher Germaine Greer, the farce tells the story of Margot Mason, a famed author who retreats to her country home to pen her latest treatise, until a former student arrives with the intent of taking Margot hostage, and her retreat is further complicated by even more unexpected guests. Performances run February 2, 2010, through March 14, with an opening scheduled for February 10. Geffen Artistic Director Randall Arney will direct.

Geffen Producing Director Gilbert Cates will direct the world premiere of the new musical Nightmare Alley. Written by Jonathan Brielle and based on the 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham, it takes place in a world filled with cons, clairvoyants and one carnie couple who tempt their own fate. Full of special effects, the show is scheduled to run April 13 through May 23, with an opening set for April 21.

Fishburne, currently starring in TV's CSI, will reprise his Tony Award-nominated turn as Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in George Stevens Jr.’s Thurgood, a solo show that documents the Civil Rights movement in the 20th century, as experienced by the first African-American to serve as a Supreme Court judge. Performances run June 27, 2010, through August 8, with an opening set for July 7.

A final production, slated to run November 10 through December 20, has yet to be announced.