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Proof Premiere Leads Donmar's American Season

David Auburn's hit Tony Award-winning play Proof will headline the Donmar Warehouse's five-month season of five American imports later this year. Proof, which runs from 9 May to 15 June 2002, will receive its UK premiere at the Donmar as will Kenneth Lonergan's Lobby Hero, while Stephen Adly Guiguis' Jesus Hopped the A Train will have a London premiere and Richard Greenberg's latest Take Me Out and Keith Reddin's Frame 312 will make their world premieres at the London theatre.

The American Imports season launches in March with Jesus Hopped the A Train and Frame 312 running in repertory from 6 to 30 March. The former, directed by Hollywood actor Philip Seymour Hoffman (Magnolia, Boogie Nights, The Talented Mr Ripley, won a Fringe First at the 2001 Edinburgh Festival. It tells the story of two convicted murderers who, while in protective custody, struggle with who they are and what they've done. The latter, directed by Josie Rourke, opens up new perspectives on the assassination of John F Kennedy when middle-aged widow Lynette faces up to some secrets she's been ignoring for many years.

Lonergan's Lobby Hero, directed by Mark Brokaw, continues the season from 4 April to 4 May 2002. Acclaimed off-Broadway, it concerns an inept doorman named Jeff whose longing for love gets him into trouble. Also a scriptwriter, Lonergan's recent films include the Oscar-nominated You Can Count on Me.

Proof is then directed by Shakespeare in Love's John Madden, with a new British cast that, according to rumours, may be headed by the likes of Kate Winslet, Rachel Weisz or Helena Bonham-Carter. The plot involves a young woman who fears she may have inherited the mental illness that plagued her late father, a renowned mathematician. Amongst Proof many accolades are the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and three Tonys, including Best Play. The play continues to run at Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre, where film actress Jennifer Jason Leigh is currently starring.

The American Imports season concludes with Take Me Out, the latest play from Richard Greenberg, whose earlier hit Three Days of Rain, starring Colin Firth and Elizabeth McGovern, had two sell-out runs at the Donmar in 1999. Take Me Out follows an iconic young baseball star who "comes out" at a press conference, much to the consternation of many of his macho fans and teammates. A co-production with New York's Public Theater, the play will run at the Donmar from 20 June to 3 August 2002.

- by Terri Paddock

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