Opening Date, Creative Team Set for Anna Deavere Smith's Let Me Down Easy

The premiere of Anna Deavere Smith’s previously announced new solo show, Let Me Down Easy, will begin previews at Second Stage Theatre on September 15 and officially open October 7. The piece, directed by Leonard Foglia, centers on health care in America and will include Smith’s portrayal of Lance Armstrong and various doctors and patients she interviewed around the country.

Channeling a dramatic range of interview subjects, from artists and athletes to doctors and those they treat, Let Me Down Easy features first person accounts from the world of healthcare, covering both the patient and practitioner perspective. Smith has been developing the project for eight years, working with hundreds of interviewees and health care practitioners from across the globe. The production was re-conceived from the earlier developmental versions presented at New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre and Boston’s American Repertory Theatre in 2008.

Smith has appeared on Broadway in her Tony Award nominated self-written play Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. In 1993, her play Fires in the Mirror was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Among her many television credits are The West Wing, Presidio Med, The Practice and the new Showtime television series Nurse Jackie. Films include Rachel Getting Married, The American President, Philadelphia, The Human Stain, Life Support and Dave.

Foglia most recently directed Laurence Fishburne in Broadway’s Thurgood. Additional Broadway credits include Master Class, On Golden Pond and Wait Until Dark. Off-Broadway, he has helmed Encores!’ One Touch of Venus, The Stendahl Syndrome, By the Sea, Lonely Planet and If Memory Serves.

Let Me Down Easy will have scene design by Riccardo Hernandez, costume design by Ann Hould-Ward and lighting design by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer.