Ensemble Studio Theatre's season-opening production of Lloyd Suh's Franklinland has found its cast.
The Pulitzer finalist's new comedy was commissioned and developed through the EST/Sloan Project. Directed by Chika Ike, the Off-Broadway production will feature Noah Keyishian, Mason Reeves, and Thomas Jay Ryan.
Centering on Benjamin Franklin's son and the unlikely life he inherits, Franklinland will run October 9 to November 3, with opening night on October 17.
“Franklinland is in many ways a play about growing up and growing older, so what a treat it is to bring it to Ensemble Studio Theatre, where I had my professional debut over 20 years ago,” shared Suh. “The play is also about America, in all its complexities and contradictions, so I'm excited too about revisiting it right now, in this pivotal season of the American experiment.”
Co-Artistic Director Gaeme Gillis added that “Franklinland is funny as hell and sad as hell. It captures how it felt to be the guy making some of the greatest discoveries and inventions in history—and how it felt to have that guy be your dad. It gets at a central theme of the EST/Sloan Project—those who science and history remember and forget—in a fresh, original way all its own. What a gift to start the 25th season of that program with this play. And with these people: Chika Ike did stunning work directing in the last Marathon of One-Act Plays here. And there's no writer anywhere like Lloyd Suh—and really no play like Franklinland either."
For more information, visit ESTNYC.org.