Hal Brooks (Long Story Short, The Bad Guys) will direct the play, produced in association with Ars Nova, which will officially open Nov. 18 at The Studio at Stage II. The play is a commission of The Writers' Room, of which Rothstein is an inaugural member.
The complete cast features Ruginis (The Real Thing, One of the Guys) as Marty Murphy, O'Connell (Circle Mirror Transformation, In The Wake) as Mary Murphy, Dunn-Baker (The Wayside Motor Inn, Trust) as Sal Murphy and Pelphrey (End of the Rainbow, "Banshee") as Brian Murphy as well as Cassie Beck (The Whale, The Drunken City) as Emily Mancini, Charlotte Maier (Act One, The Last Yankee) as Andrea Carter and Ethan Phillips (All The Way, Taking Care of Baby) as Philip Carter.
According to MTC, "Hurricane Sandy has just ravaged the lifelong home of Marty and Mary Murphy (Ruginis, O'Connell). But the storm has ripped apart more than just the walls: with their neighbors too devastated to stay, the couple's beloved Staten Island community is in danger of disappearing forever. Determined to rebuild, Marty wages a campaign to save his neighborhood and his home, but when the Murphys' sons (Dunn-Baker, Pelphrey) arrive to help their parents dig out, past betrayals come rushing to the surface. With fierce compassion and poignant humor, By The Water reminds us that the very powers that tear us apart can also bring us together."
The creative team includes Wilson Chin (scenic design), Jessica Pabst (costume design), Tyler Micoleau (lighting design), Ryan Rumery (sound design) and Ben Furey (dialect coach).
Rothstein is a member of the inaugural class of Manhattan Theatre Club/Ars Nova Writers Room, through which By the Water was commissioned and developed, and the Primary Stages Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group. She is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre and an alumna of EST's Youngblood, as well as the 2011-2012 Ars Nova Playgroup. Sharyn’s play The Invested was published in New Playwrights: The Best Plays of 2013. She has been a finalist for the Yale Drama Prize. For tickets, phone (212) 581-1212 or visit nycitycenter.org. New York City Center is located at 131 West 55th Street.
