February 27, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Tony- and Emmy-nominated director and award-winning playwright Moises Kaufman has hired UAB Theatre student Luke Harlan as assistant director for his newest play, "33 Variations." Harlan leaves this week for California, where he will work with Kaufman on the play's West Coast premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse.

Harlan last week directed Kaufman's play, "The Laramie Project," for UAB Theatre. Harlan met Kaufman Jan. 22-24 when UAB Theatre brought Kaufman to UAB as a guest artist to lecture and work with the cast and crew of "The Laramie Project."

"33 Variations" world premiered in Washington, D.C., at Arena Stage a few months ago. The play is an account of Beethoven's final composition, Harlan said.

"I'll be Moises' assistant, the position is through La Jolla Playhouse and the official title is assistant director," Harlan said. "Many directors use assistants differently, so I'm not sure what I will be doing, but I am sure he will keep me busy."

Last year, Harlan won the National Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers Directing Award at the national Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Harlan competed against seven other student directors to win the national honor. He was awarded a $1,000 scholarship and an all-expense paid, six-week summer internship at the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference at the O'Neill Institute in Waterford, Conn.

Harlan, 22, is the son of Carol and Marvin Harlan of Fayetteville, Ark.

Kaufman is the founder and artistic director of Tectonic Theater Project, a laboratory for new works in theater and film based in New York. Kaufman is a Guggenheim Fellow.