The Collective Returns to New York With Its Fall 2018 Season

The Collective has announced its fall 2018 season, marking the company's return to producing in New York and beyond.

The season will begin with the world premiere of David Thigpen's The Hurricane Party, directed by Tony Award nominee Maria Dizzia (In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play) at the Cherry Lane Theatre in September. The show is described as follows: "Thigpen's pulverizing southern American voice takes us on a breakneck roller coaster ride where the characters are forced to face themselves in the most dangerous time of their lives. This slickly invented and hilariously debaucherous journey into the heart of an approaching storm grabs from the first second and doesn't let go until long after it's too late."

The next show will be the world premiere of the never-before-read Tennessee Williams play Talisman Roses (September 27-30) at the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival. The show will star Tony winner Amanda Plummer (Agnes of God) and directed by Golden Globe winner Marsha Mason (The Goodbye Girl). The play is described as follows: "Tennessee Williams imagines flowers might restore a crushed soul in this unpublished one-act, performed for the first time under the direction of distinguished actress and director Marsha Mason."

Alongside the world premiere at the festival will be Williams's Some Problems for the Moose Lodge and Steps Must Be Gentle (September 27-30), both will be directed by Rory Pelsue. The plays are described as follows: "Steps Must Be Gentle is Williams's fantasia about the poet Hart Crane, who committed suicide by jumping off a ship into the Gulf of Mexico. Crane's life, death, and poetry were inspirations to Williams. In Steps Must Be Gentle, Williams pictures Hart Crane at peace on the bottom of the sea, until his mother dies and tracks him down to straighten him out. The play pairs with Moose Lodge, the action of which begins as a family returns from a funeral of a gay son."

Up next at the Collective is the sixth annual C:10, which features 10 10-minute world-premiere plays. C:10 will take place in November and a venue will be announced at a later date. C:10 is described as follows: "From school shootings to the NFL, from anti-Semitism to #metoo, our playwrights tackle issues that we face day to day. C:10 doesn't tip-toe, these plays go for the gut punch and leave you laughing."

The season will conclude with the New York premiere of The Net Will Appear (December). The Net Will Appear was written by Erin Mallon, directed by Mark Cirnigliaro, and stars Richard Masur (Relevance). The play is described as follows: "On their rooftops, 75-year-old Bernard and 9-year-old Rory meet, and find solace from the challenges each faces beneath. The Net Will Appear is a shockingly funny story full of heart, in which two wonderful, eccentric people find true friendship."