Production History of BEAST

December 2007
Michael Weller comes across a photo series by Nina Berman called “Purple Hearts,” images of wounded Iraq veterans, and can’t get the images out of his head. Around the same time, he begins watching horror films by a noted director in preparation for a meeting, and becomes interested in writing a genre piece: something that is both powerful and satisfying as entertainment, but also containing a moral/political
speculation. Weller had been struggling for years with how to dramatize his views of the current political landscape. Once the approach became clear, Weller’s writing became mostly about taming a torrent of ideas.

January 2008
Weller completes the script of Beast.

March 2008
Conversations begin about a production at NYTW.

April 2008
Jo Bonney signs on to direct the play at NYTW, the first production of the 2008/2009 Season.

June 2008
Weller and Bonney give a reading of the play as part of the New Play Readings Festival of New York Stage and Film at Vassar College, with cast members Jeremy Bobb, Logan Marshall-Green and Eileen Rivera.

July 2008
Rehearsals for the production of Beast begin at NYTW.

September 2008
Beast opens at NYTW.

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