Aubrey Plaza (The White Lotus) is shifting from the sound stage to the center stage for the first time in her career. According to Deadline, Plaza is set to make her stage debut in the Off Broadway revival of the 1984 play, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea.
Written by John Patrick Shanley, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, which will be co-produced by Oscar winner Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), tells the story of Danny and Roberta, “two desperate people in the Bronx” who “walk the line between destruction and transcendence.” Plaza will play Roberta opposite Christopher Abbott’s (Girls) Danny.
“Couldn’t be in better hands for my first time on stage … and timing couldn’t be stranger,” Plaza wrote on Instagram. “Oh well here we go. 10 weeks only. This fall in the west village.”
Plaza and Abbott worked together on the 2020 dark comedy-drama, Black Bear. In that movie, Plaza plays a filmmaker who hopes to find inspiration to write a script while staying at a lake house owned by Abbott’s character and his wife.
Ironically, Black Bear feels like a bizarre stage production at times, so maybe plays were always in the cards for Aubrey Plaza. She did a great job on Saturday Night Live earlier this year, too, so performing in real-time seems like it comes naturally for her.
Danny and the Deep Blue Sea will begin previewing on October 20, 2023, at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York City. Opening night is set for November 13. It will run for a 10-week limited engagement.