Goodman Theatre

For Immediate Release

(Chicago, IL) Goodman Theatre is proud to present the world premiere of Brett C. Leonard's The Long Red Road directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, February 13 – March 14, 2010 in the Goodman's 400-seat flexible Owen Bruner Theatre. Tickets are $12 – $45 and are currently on sale at GoodmanTheatre.org or by calling 312.443.3800.

In this raw, provocative world premiere, Sam attempts to drink away his past and exorcise his demons on an Indian reservation in South Dakota, where he has been trying to forget his role in a tragic accident involving his family. When a visitor from his past arrives on the reservation, Sam is forced to face his guilt and take a harrowing look at the man he has become. The Long Red Road is a searing play about the way one person's anguish can tear a family apart.

Brett C. Leonard (Playwright) has been a LAByrinth Theater Company Member since 2003. He is the Associate Artistic Director of London's Shotgun Theatre and the recipient of the 2008 Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award. His playwriting credits include Unconditional (LAByrinth at The Public, directed by Mark Wing-Davey; Toronto's Column 13), Guinea Pig Solo (LAByrinth/Public, the first co-production; Chicago's Chopin Theater/Collaboraction: Chicago Tribune's "Top 10 of 2005"; and Berlin's 50th Anniversary of the Arts Festival at the House of World Culture), Roger and Vanessa (London's Latchmere Theatre 503, directed by Robert Delamere; L.A.'s Actors' Gang; Sydney's Tap Gallery) and Scotch and Water (London's New Company, Critics' Choice Time Out London). His short plays include Bobo an' Spyder... (NY's Production Company/Australia Project, directed by Bob Glaudini), Beauty and Light (Chicago's Collaboraction Sketchbook '05) and Interrogation (Sketchbook '06). Unconditional is published in Smith and Kraus' "New Playwrights - Best Plays 2008." His debut feature film Jailbait, starring Michael Pitt and Stephen Adly Guirgis, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, won both the Grand Jury Prize and Emerging Filmmaker Award at the Lake Placid Film Festival and is available on Warner Brothers' DVD. He is currently adapting Unconditional for the screen for Cooper's Town Productions and Overture Films.

Philip Seymour Hoffman (Director) recently finished shooting the film version of Jack Goes Boating, based on the play of the same name. Previously on stage at The Public in the LAByrinth Theater Company production, Hoffman reprises his role of Jack while also stepping behind the camera to make his feature directorial debut. Hoffman was last seen in Richard Curtis' latest project Pirate Radio. Prior to that, he starred in Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, NY and John Patrick Shanley's Doubt. Hoffman also starred in the independent film The Savages, Mike Nichols' Charlie Wilson's War and Sidney Lumet's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. Previously, Hoffman starred in Capote, which he executive produced through his company, Cooper's Town Productions. In addition to winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, Hoffman earned a Golden Globe and SAG Award for his performance.

Other film credits include Mission Impossible: III, Along Came Polly, Cold Mountain, The Party's Over, Owning Mahowny, 25th Hour, Red Dragon, Punch-Drunk Love, Love Liza, Almost Famous, State and Main, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Magnolia, Flawless, Patch Adams, Happiness, The Big Lebowski, Boogie Nights, Twister, Nobody's Fool, Scent of a Woman and HBO's Empire Falls.

As an actor, Hoffman's theater credits include Jack Goes Boating (The Public Theater), Long Day's Journey Into Night (Broadway), The Seagull (The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival), True West (Broadway), Defying Gravity (American Place Theatre), The Merchant of Venice (directed by Peter Sellars), Shopping and F*cking (New York Theatre Workshop) and The Author's Voice (Drama Department).

His directing credits include the world premieres of The Little Flower of East Orange, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Our Lady of 121st Street, Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train and In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings, all written by Stephen Adly Guirgis and produced by LAByrinth. Additionally, Hoffman directed Rebecca Gilman's The Glory of Living at MCC Theater. He traveled to Australia to direct Andrew Upton's Riflemind at the famed Sydney Theater Company and also mounted the play later in London.

Tickets to The Long Red Road ($12 – $45) are currently on sale at GoodmanTheatre.org. Tickets can also be purchased at the box office (170 North Dearborn) or by phone at 312.443.3800. Mezztix are half-price mezzanine tickets available at 12 noon at the box office, and at 10am online (promo code MEZZTIX) day of performance; Mezztix are not available by telephone. 10Tix are $10 mezzanine tickets for students available at 12 noon at the box office, and at 10am online on the day of performance; 10Tix are not available by telephone. Valid student I.D. must be presented when picking up the tickets. Limit four per student with I.D. All tickets are subject to availability and handling fees apply. Discounted Group Tickets for ten persons or more are available at 312.443.3820.

About Goodman Theatre

Now on stage at the Goodman is: Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol adapted by Tom Creamer, directed by William Brown (Through December 31, 2009; Albert Theatre).

Upcoming productions in the 2009/2010 Season include: Brian Dennehy in the Broadway-bound double-bill of Hughie by Eugene O'Neill, directed by Robert Falls and Krapp's Last Tape by Samuel Beckett, directed by Jennifer Tarver (January 16 – February 21, 2010: Albert); The Long Red Road by Brett C. Leonard, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman (February 13 – March 14, 2010; Owen) the world premiere of A True History of the Johnstown Flood by Rebecca Gilman, directed by Robert Falls (March 13 – April 18, 2010; Albert); The Good Negro by Tracey Scott Wilson, directed by Chuck Smith (May 1 – June 6, 2010; Albert); The Sins of Sor Juana by Karen Zacarías, directed by Henry Godinez (June 19 – July 25, 2010; Albert) which launches the Goodman's 5th Latino Theater Festival (offerings TBA).

Named the country's "Best Regional Theatre" by Time magazine (2003), Goodman Theatre is a leader in the American theater, internationally recognized for its artists, productions and educational programs since its founding in 1925. Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer's forward-thinking leadership has earned the Goodman unparalleled artistic distinction, garnered hundreds of awards—including the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre (1992) and Pulitzer Prizes for Ruined by Lynn Nottage and Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet—and moved dozens of plays from Chicago to stages in New York and abroad. Central to its commitment to the reinvestigation of classics and development of new plays and artists is the Goodman's Artistic Collective, including Brian Dennehy, Frank Galati, Henry Godinez, Steve Scott, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor and Mary Zimmerman. The largest not-for-profit theater in Chicago, the Goodman moved in 2000 into a brand new state-of-the-art complex which houses two principal theaters: the 856-seat Albert Ivar Goodman Theatre and the 400-seat flexible Owen Bruner Goodman Theatre. Board Chairman is Patricia Cox and Karen Pigott is President of the Women's Board. American Airlines is the Exclusive Airline of Goodman Theatre.

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