Bob Balaban Helms World Premiere ‘The New Sincerity’ At Bay Street

Justine Lupe may not have read one word of “The New Sincerity” before signing on as star of the Bay Street Theater production, but she did know three very important things.

First, it was a world premiere from playwright Alena Smith, whose credits include HBO’s “The Newsroom” and Showtime’s “The Affair.”

Second, she would be working alongside one of her best friends, Elvy Yost.

And, third, Bob Balaban would be making his East End directorial debut.

“I jumped on the opportunity,” she laughed. “I said, ‘Yes, but let me read it. But yes.’ And then I read it and I was, like, ‘Oh, this is great!’”

The new play—opening Tuesday, May 26—follows young journalist Rose Spencer, whose ambitious literary circle gets involved with a rowdy, Occupy-style movement, forcing her to balance politics, love and the endless quest for success while struggling to tell the difference between genuine action and sly self-promotion.

Mr. Balaban, who has racked up more than 100 acting credits, discovered the new play two years ago and called Scott Schwartz, artistic director at Bay Street, when he felt it was ready after several readings and rewrites with Ms. Smith.

“I’m very glad it came to be, and now I’m doing it,” said Mr. Balaban, a Bridgehampton resident. “It’s very nice to tumble out of bed and, 11 minutes later, be at the theater. And the fact that they renovated the gym next door and the health food store, Provisions—I could live my whole life … I couldn’t, really, but the idea that I could go to the theater, stop at the health food store and go to the gym in one block is very nice.”

Despite his childhood years as a puppeteer, Mr. Balaban never intended to be a director—ever. He said he should have known what was in store, considering he wrote all the puppet plays, performed all the parts, and designed the scenery and lighting, “of which there was not much,” he said, “but it was there.”

“Being a puppeteer is the ultimate form of control, but in the real world, I never considered it. Until Sidney Lumet,” he said. “I had been an actor for 15 years, and I was lucky enough to be in ‘Prince of the City.’ It was a wonderful movie and I was so excited by the way he worked with actors, handled the crew, his ideas, the way he shot. I apprenticed myself to him. That doesn’t really mean anything, I didn’t help in any way. But I glommed onto him, and he said I could.”

Ms. Lupe found herself in a similar situation, as her willingness to act in “The New Sincerity” was directly proportional to her previous experience auditioning for Mr. Balaban. Though she wasn’t cast in the play, the pair continued to keep in touch through her time on ABC’s “Cristella,” which was not picked up for a second season, allowing her to star on the East End.

“I can relate to Rose, who is also at the beginning of her career. I think I’m finding myself in a similar place in this industry, just expecting everyone to be sincere, and expecting everyone to have the right intentions,” she said. “For the most part, I feel like I’m still in pre-‘The New Sincerity’ Rose, where everything seems to be good. And then you see the little slices of people making moves for weird reasons and undercutting other people, and you’re trying to see things as clearly as you possibly can.

“This play makes you think about why we do the things we do,” she continued. “Am I doing something because I really want to help, or because I want to look like a good person? She’s questioning her motives, and I think that’s something I’ve been really aware of, based on what’s going on in my life and my industry.”

This marks Ms. Lupe’s second theatrical appearance, the first being “A Family For All Occasions” two years ago at Bank Street Theater in New York, under the direction of Philip Seymour Hoffman, not long before he died in February 2014. “I played a nymphomaniac,” she said. “I had to be naked, I had to have peanut butter licked off me. It was pretty dark, difficult and amazing. And on ‘Cristella,’ I played what people would see as a valley girl. So I go from the play to being the comic relief on a multi-cam to Rose, this very grounded, intelligent woman. It’s a leap there, too.”

“The New Sincerity,” a new comedy by Alena Smith, directed by Bob Balaban and starring Teddy Bergman, Peter Mark Kendall, Justine Lupe and Elvy Yost, will make its world premiere on Tuesday, May 26, at 7 p.m. at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor. Performances will be held on Wednesdays at 7 p.m., Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 and/or 7 p.m., through June 14. Tickets start at $60.75. For a complete list of show times and tickets, call (631) 725-9500, or visit baystreet.org.