Filmmaker Ethan Coen returns to theatre stage with one-act plays
Last Updated: Wednesday, March 25, 2009 | 12:03 PM ET
CBC News
Directors Ethan Coen, left, and Joel Coen pose with their Oscars for best director and adapted screenplay for their film No Country for Old Men at 2008 Academy Awards. (Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press)While Hollywood might be eagerly awaiting the next Coen brothers film, fans of Ethan Coen's theatre work will be able to see a new collection of his one-act plays off-Broadway this spring.
New York's Atlantic Theatre Company announced on Tuesday a spring debut for Coen's Offices, a new series of comedic one-act plays about white-collar workers.
The plays — titled Peer Review, Homeland Security and Struggle Session — "have Ethan's incredibly distinct and funny and slightly dark voice," said ATC artistic chief Neil Pepe, who will direct the collection.
Pepe, who was behind the recent Broadway revival of David Mamet's Speed-The-Plow, also directed Coen's Almost an Evening, the trio of one-act plays successfully staged last year by ATC.
"It was a good experience, so I'm going to try and repeat it," Coen said.
"I worked in an office a long time ago," he said. "My first job out of college — in fact my only job out of college — was working as an office temp, just to do typing basically."
Offices will begin previews on April 15, with the premiere slated to follow on May 7. The limited run ends May 31.
Almost an Evening marked Coen's off-Broadway debut. He is better known for the 14 films he has made with his brother Joel, including Burn After Reading, No Country for Old Men, The Big Lebowski, Fargo and O Brother, Where Art Thou?
With files from the Associated PressShare Tools
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