Downstate Announces Final Extension at Playwrights Horizons

Playwrights Horizons has announced its second and final extension for the New York premiere of Downstate, now running through January 7, 2023.

Written by Bruce Norris and directed by Pam MacKinnon, Downstate surrounds a registered address in downstate Illinois, where four men convicted of sex crimes share a group home, living out their days post-incarceration. Audiences witness a single day within the home where Fred (Francis Guinan), Dee (K. Todd Freeman), Gio (Glenn Davis), and Felix (Eddie Torres) tightly cohabit: four random lives thrust into shared space by only one chilling commonality. They have all been released back from their respective sentences into the permanent prison of an excommunicated existence.

The cast also includes Susanna Guzmán (Ivy), Brian Hutchison (Andy), Sally Murphy (Em), and Gabi Samels (Effie). For the extension performances (December 13-January 7), Brian Hutchison takes over the role of Andy from Tim Hopper, who opened the off-Broadway production.

Downstate was commissioned and previously produced by Steppenwolf Theatre Company (where it made its world premiere in 2018) and the National Theatre. The play marks the return of Bruce Norris to Playwrights Horizons following productions of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Clybourne Park, as well as The Qualms and The Pain and the Itch.

Read our critic's review of Downstate here.