Bright Half Life

February 17 - March 22, 2015

a world premiere production
by Tanya Barfield
directed by Leigh Silverman

4 Stars Time Out New York- Bright Half LifeCRITICS’ PICK
“Romantic! Virtuosic! For sheer loveliness, you won’t surpass Tanya Barfield’s
exquisite BRIGHT HALF LIFE.” – Time Out New York

“BRIGHT HALF LIFE is profound – a well-written, engaging portrayal of smart women finding themselves, and each other.” – The New Yorker

“Under Leigh Silverman’s expert direction, Ms. Barfield’s variegated BRIGHT HALF LIFE shows the volatility in a long-term partnership, the joy and desolation, the hurt and help – all intermingled, all at once.” – The New York Times

“BRIGHT HALF LIFE is the rare play you actually wish went on longer…the actresses’ easy rapport seems comfortable and real – like the best love stories.” – New York Post

Erica meets Vicky.  Vicky marries Erica. Lives collide.  Rewind.  Pause.  Fast forward.

BRIGHT HALF LIFE is a new play by Pulitzer Prize nominee Tanya Barfield and directed by Tony Award nominee Leigh Silverman. Starring Rebecca Henderson (Appropriate Behavior) and Rachael Holmes (Ruined), the play is a moving love story that spans decades in an instance from marriage, children, skydiving and the infinite moments that make a life together.

Learn more about BRIGHT HALF LIFE
Tanya Barfield’s Bright Half Life Brings Stellar Romance Off-Broadway, Starting Tonight, Playbill.com
Tanya Barfield: On the Space-Time Continuum, The Brooklyn Rail
The Cast and Creative Team of Bright Half Life Discuss Tanya Barfield’s New Play, Theatermania
Photo Flash: In Rehearsal with Bright Half Life at Women’s Project Theater, BroadwayWorld.com
Tanya Barfield’s Bright Half Life, starring Rebecca Henderson and Rachael Holmes will premiere Off-Broadway, Broadway.com


BRIGHT HALF LIFE marks the fifth collaboration between Barfield and Silverman, whose work on last season’s Violet earned Tony Award nominations for Best Direction and Best Musical Revival. The duo recently partnered on the critically acclaimed plays The Call and Blue Door, earning Barfield a nomination for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize. BRIGHT HALF LIFE was developed during a residency at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference in 2014 (Preston Whiteway – Executive Director; Wendy C. Goldberg – Artistic Director).

Join the conversation on Twitter @WomensProject #BrightHalfLife

Tanya Barfield

(Playwright) Tanya Barfield’s The Call premiered last spring at Playwrights Horizons in co-production with Primary Stages and was a New York Times Critic’s Pick. Her play Blue Door (South Coast Rep, Playwrights Horizons) was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.  Tanya wrote the book for the Theatreworks/USA children’s musical, Civil War: The First Black Regiment which toured public schools regionally. Other work includes: Feast (co-writer, Young Vic/Royal Court) and Of Equal Measure (Center Theatre Group), Chat (New Dramatists’ Playtime Festival), The Quick (New York Stage & Film).  Short plays include: Medallion (WP Theater/Antigone Project), Foul Play (Royal Court Theatre, Cultural Center of Brazil), The Wolves and Wanting North (Guthrie Theatre Lab, named Best 10-Minute Play of 2003).  A recipient of a Lilly Award, the inaugural Lilly Award Commission and a Helen Merrill Award, Tanya is a proud alumna of New Dramatists and a member of The Dramatist Guild Council.

Leigh Silverman

(Director) Broadway: Violet (Tony nomination, Roundabout, Encores)); Chinglish; Well. Other: American Hero (2ST); Kung Fu (Signature Theatre); The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence (Playwrights Horizons); The Call (Playwrights Horizons); The Madrid (MTC); Golden Child (Signature Theatre); No Place to Go (Public Theater; Two River Theatre); In the Wake (Center Theatre Group/Berkeley Repertory Theatre and The Public Theater, Obie Award, Lortel nomination); Go Back to Where You Are (Playwrights Horizons, Obie Award); From Up Here (MTC, Drama Desk nomination); Yellow Face (Center Theatre Group/The Public Theater); Coraline (MCC/True Love); Blue Door (Playwrights Horizons); Well (The Public Theater; Huntington Theatre; ACT); Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (Second Stage Theatre). Recent regional: The Heidi Chronicles (Guthrie Theater); American Hero (WTF); Chinglish (Goodman Theater, Jeff nomination; West Coast/Hong Kong tour).

Rebecca Henderson

(Erica) Select theatre: The Wayside Motor Inn (Signature); Your Mother’s Copy of the Kama Sutra, The Whale, The Retributionists (Playwrights Horizons); Too Much Too Much Too Many (Roundabout Theatre Company); La Brea, Roadkill Confidential (Clubbed Thumb); Red-Handed Otter (Playwrights Realm); Autumn Sonata (Yale Rep.); The Collection, A Kind of Alaska (Atlantic Theater Company); Spin, U.S. Drag, Vengeance (the stageFARM); bobrauschenbergamerica (American Repertory Theater). Film and Television: Mistress America, True Story, Actresses, The Mend, Appropriate Behavior, Diving Normal, Compliance, East of Acadia, Meskada, Little Horses, A Lone Star State, “The Impossibilities”, “Wallflowers”, “The Good Wife” and “Grand Theft Autor IV & V”. MFA, Columbia University.

Rachael Holmes

Rachael Holmes (Vicky) just made her Yale Rep debut in the world premier of War by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (dir. Lileana Blain-Cruz). Other credits include Ruined directed by Kate Whoriskey (Manhattan Theatre Club); Persephone’s Cowboy: A Musical directed by Alex Timbers, 365 Days/365 Plays with directors Michael Greif, Leigh Silverman, and Hal Brooks (The Public Theater). Regional credits include: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Broadway World nomination for Best Supporting Actress) directed by Jonathan Moscone (Alley Theatre); Good People directed by Kate Whoriskey (Huntington Theatre); Ruined (Helen Hayes Award for Best Ensemble) directed by Charles Randolph-Wright (Arena Stage); The Book Club Play directed by Molly Smith (Arena Stage); Richard II directed by Michael Kahn, Julius Caesar directed by David Paul (Shakespeare Theatre); and Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet directed by Timothy Douglas (Studio Theatre); She recorded Lady Macbeth and Titania for the Folger Shakespeare Library’s Luminary Shakespeare App. Television: The Mysteries of LauraThe Good WifeDirt, as well asnational commercials and voice-overs. She received her MFA from NYU and teaches at New Victory Theatre and New York Film Academy. rachael.biz

  • BRIGHT HALF LIFE: Behind the Scenes Interviews

  • BRIGHT HALF LIFE Trailer


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