World Premiere of Lily Akerman's The Commons Finds Its Cast | Playbill

Off-Broadway News World Premiere of Lily Akerman's The Commons Finds Its Cast The Hearth’s new production is a play about living with strangers and the things that seem small...until they’re not.
Julia Greer and Olivia Khoshatefeh

The latest production from The Hearth, the young theatre company dedicated to uplifting female and non-binary artists, has found its cast for the world premiere of Lily Akerman's The Commons. Helmed by Artistic Director Emma Miller, the production will play a limited run at 59E59 Theaters February 6–23.

The cast of the Off-Broadway staging features Olivia Abiassi (Eh Dah?: Questions for My Father), Julia Greer (Athena), Ben Katz (16 Words or Less), Olivia Khoshatefeh (The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), and Ben Newman (Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists).

For anyone who's ever lived in shared housing, the synopsis for The Commons will sound all-too familiar: missing almonds, empty apologies, and a pizza box in the recycling bin that clearly belongs in the trash. When space is at a premium, there’s no room for weak links. A play about living with strangers, and the things that seem small until they're not, The Commons is also a larger story about eco-systems and what it means to live harmoniously in shared environments.

“We loved the quirky and funny familiarity of these housemates,” says director Miller. “But the apartment stands in for a bigger ecosystem that questions if we can bury our selfishness so we can survive.”

The design team is made up of set designer Emmie Finckel, lighting designer Vicki Bain, costume designer Dara Affholter, and props designer Holden Gunster. The production stage manager is Hanako Rodriguez.

The Hearth returns Off-Broadway following its production of the world premiere of Gracie Gardner's critically acclaimed Athena.

 
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