Roundabout Theatre Company has completed the cast of The Grief Eater Near North Bender, a new play by Dylan Guerra directed by Dustin Wills, which begins previews at the Laura Pels Theatre on January 21, 2027. The six-strong company is Kyle Beltran, Florencia Lozano, Annie McNamara, Marquis Kofi Rodriguez, Blake Russell and Pete Simpson.
Guerra's play is a darkly comic fable set in the woods outside North Bender, where something is killing people and wiping them from the memories of those who loved them most. A grieving ex, his fiercely loyal sister and a man who can no longer remember the partner he lost gather in the local pub, forge silver bullets and go hunting. What they have to face is that getting back what was taken might hurt more than losing it did.
Beltran plays Angler, Lozano is Tomlin, McNamara is Maryanne, Rodriguez is Noland, Russell is The Shepherd and Simpson is Byron.
Wills directed Lozano in Wet Brain, the production that brought Lozano a Lucille Lortel nomination, and also staged Wolf Play. McNamara originated Alana in Jeremy O. Harris's Slave Play on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony for it; Russell was in the same production, and in Take Me Out. Beltran's Broadway credits include The Cherry Orchard and In the Heights, alongside Drama Desk and Lortel nominations for A Case for the Existence of God at Signature. Simpson, an Obie winner for sustained excellence, created the role of Justin Garrick in Is This a Room Off-Broadway before taking it to Broadway, and Rodriguez is known on screen for When They See Us.
The production is presented in association with New York Theatre Workshop. It opens on February 11, 2027 and plays a limited engagement through March 21 at the Laura Pels, in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre at 111 West 46th Street. During previews, performances are Tuesday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 3 p.m.; after opening, the Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evening shows move to 7 p.m., with matinees at 2 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The creative team will be announced later.
Tickets are available from Roundabout at roundabouttheatre.org or by calling 212-719-1300.
