Audible Emerging Playwright Fund’s Inaugural Stage Production Announced

Audible announced new casting today for the world premiere of Proof of Love, the new play by Audible-commissioned playwright Chisa Hutchinson (Surely Goodness and Mercy, Somebody's Daughter), directed by Jade King Carroll (The Gin Game, Hello From the Children of Planet Earth) and produced in association with New York Theatre Workshop. The production will now feature Brenda Pressley (The Lyons, Almost Home, Seven Guitars), replacing the previously announced Suzzanne Douglas who is withdrawing due to personal reasons.

Pressley can currently be seen in the Keen Company production of Hutchinson's play Surely Goodness and Mercy.

Proof of Love is the inaugural live production from Audible's Emerging Playwright program, a dedicated $5M fund that enables the creation of original plays driven by language and voice, keeping with Audible's core commitment to elevating listening experiences through powerful performances and extraordinary storytelling. Twenty-five commissions have already been announced, with new playwrights identified on an annual basis.

As previously announced, previews will begin Tuesday, May 7 ahead of a Tuesday, May 14 opening night at the Minetta Lane Theatre (18 Minetta Lane, between MacDougal & 6th Avenue – one block south of W. 3rd Street), Audible's creative home for live performances in New York.

Constance thought she had a happy life and a loving husband. Suddenly, a tragic accident splinters her upper-class black family—and forces Constance to face uncomfortable truths about her marriage and herself. Proof of Love is the explosive, funny, and moving new one-woman play by Chisa Hutchinson, member of the first class of talent supported by the Audible Playwrights Fund; Jade King Carroll directs.

The full creative team for Proof of Love will be announced soon.

As with previous Audible Theater shows at the Minetta Lane, Audible will also record and release Proof of Love as an audio play, extending its reach to millions of listeners around the world. Award-winning and critically acclaimed Audible performances of captivating stage productions starring Billy Crudup, Judith Light, Aasif Mandvi, John Lithgow, Carey Mulligan, and others are available for download at www.audible.com/theater.

Additional events at the Minetta Lane Theatre will be announced soon, and Audible has also announced live performances in London. Information about previous and future live programming produced by Audible is available here.

With a 30-day membership trial at Audible, new listeners can enjoy any one audiobook, including the audio performances of productions at the Minetta Lane Theatre, free.

TICKETING INFORMATION AND PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Tickets are available at www.audible.com/minettalane, by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-982-2787, and in-person at the Minetta Lane Theatre box office (18 Minetta Lane, between MacDougal & 6th Avenue – one block south of W. 3rd Street). For current box office hours, please visit www.minettalanenyc.com.

Proof of Love will play Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7PM; Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8PM; Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2PM; and Sundays at 3PM.

BIOGRAPHIES

BRENDA PRESSLEY (Constance Daley). Broadway credits include The Lyons, The American Plan, Cats, Dreamgirls and The Moony Shirpiro Songbook. Off-Broadway Brenda starred in Almost Home, The First Breeze of Summer, SevenGuitars, Fran's Bed, Marvin's Room, And The World Goes 'Round (Outer Critics Circle Award), and Blues In The Night. Regional theatre appearances include Intimate Apparel, Black Odyssey, Trouble in Mind, The Old Settler (Barrymore Award), Blues For An Alabama Sky and A Raisin In The Sun. On film, Pressley has appeared in Third Street Blackout, Detachment,16 Blocks, Cradle Will Rock and It Could Happen To You. On television, Brenda has guest-starred on such shows as “The Path,” “The Good Wife,” “Elementary,” “Mysteries of Laura,” “Body of Proof,” “Law and Order: Deadline,” “Law and Order: SVU,” “Harambee,” “Lifestories” and “Brewster Place” with Oprah Winfrey.

CHISA HUTCHINSON (Playwright). Chisa Hutchinson is an acclaimed playwright raised and currently residing in Newark, New Jersey. She holds a B.A. in Dramatic Arts from Vassar College and an M.F.A. in Playwriting from NYU. Her work has been presented at such venues as the National Black Theater and Second Stage Theater. She is a current member of New Dramatists and former staff writer for the Blue Man Group.

JADE KING CARROLL (Director). alondra was here (The Wild Project); From the Author of (Delaware Rep); Sex on Sunday (BE Company @ Urban Stages); Detroit '67 (McCarter Theatre & Hartford Stage); Intimate Apparel, The Piano Lesson (McCarter Theatre); The Piano Lesson (Hartford Stage); Having Our Say (Hartford Stage & Long Wharf Theatre); Autumn's Harvest (Lincoln Center Institute); A Trouble in Mind (Two River Theater & Playmaker's Rep); Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The Whipping Man (Portland Stage); The Revolutionists, Sunset Baby (City Theatre); A Raisin In The Sun (Juilliard & Perseverance); The Tempest (Chatauqua); King Hedley II (Portland Playhouse); Mr. Chickee's Funny Money (Atlantic Theater); Janice Underwater (Premiere Stages); The Etymology of Bird (CitiParks Summer Stages); Cherry Smoke (Theatre Row); Skeleton Crew (Dorset Theater, Theatreworks- Palo Alto & Marin Theatre); The Basset Table (Adelphi); Topdog/Underdog (WVU); Marisol (NYCDA); Black Girl, You've Been Gentrified, The Pussy Grabber Plays (Joe's Pub); Radio Golf (Penn State); The History of Light, Samuel J&K, The Summer House (Passage Theatre); Seven Guitars, The Persians, Splittin' the Raft (People's Light & Theatre); Spit (Intar); A Member of the Wedding (Tennessee Williams Theater Festival); Hello, From the Children of Planet Earth (Playwright's Realm); Associate Director for A Streetcar Named Desire and The Gin Game (Broadway), The Children's Monologues (Carnegie Hall).

ABOUT NEW YORK THEATRE WORKSHOP

NYTW empowers visionary theatre-makers and brings their work to adventurous audiences through productions, artist workshops and educational programs. We nurture pioneering new writers alongside powerhouse playwrights, engage inimitable genre-shaping directors, and support emerging artists in the earliest days of their careers. We've mounted over 150 productions from artists whose work has shaped our very idea of what theatre can be, including Rent, Homebody/Kabul, A Number, Peter and the Starcatcher, Once, Mary Jane, Hadestown and Lazarus. NYTW.org