May 07--"Smart People," the new play by Lydia R. Diamond, a Chicago Dramatists resident playwright, will run off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre in the winter, it was announced Thursday.
In her comedy-drama, Diamond explores race through four characters whose lives intertwine over two years -- beginning on the eve of Barack Obama's election. The show had its world premiere at the Huntington Theatre in Boston. At Second Stage, the play will be directed by Kenny Leon, who also helmed Diamond's "Stick Fly" on Broadway in 2011.
Many of Diamond's past works began their lives in Chicago at venues like the Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago Dramatists, Congo Square Theatre and others.
"Smart People" joins Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews' musical "Invisible Thread" -- formerly known as "Witness Uganda" during its premiere at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA -- which takes the fall slot of Second Stage's season.
Two more productions will be announced later.
"Smart People" and "Invisible Thread" will both play Second Stage's Tony Kiser Theatre, 305 W. 43rd St. in New York.
