Geffen Playhouse season to include John Patrick Shanley, Sarah Ruhl

The Geffen Playhouse will mark its 20th anniversary season in September with a lineup featuring recent works by John Patrick Shanley, Sarah Ruhl, Laura Eason, Bess Wohl and Rajiv Joseph.

As previously announced, the season will open with “These Paper Bullets,” the latest musical from Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong. Also among the works to be presented will be “Big Sky,” a new play by Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros.

Joseph’s “Guards at the Taj” (Oct. 6 to Nov. 15) will be staged at the Geffen after its debut at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York in May. Set in the 17th century, the drama tells the story of two guards at the newly completed Taj Mahal and a challenge they must face.

“Guards” will also have a run at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2016.

Following a Broadway run last year, Shanley’s “Outside Mullingar” (Nov. 10 to Dec. 20) will come to Los Angeles in a production directed by Geffen artistic director Randall Arney. The play is a romantic comedy set in the Irish countryside.

“Barcelona” (Feb. 2 to March 13, 2016), by Wohl, tells the story of an American tourist and a Spanish man who have a casual hook-up. The play was seen in 2013 at the People’s Light theater in Pennsylvania.

Eason’s “Sex With Strangers” (March 1 to April 10, 2016) is a two-character play about a female writer who receives a visit from a young man. The play had a New York run last year at the off-Broadway Second Stage Theater.

“Stage Kiss” (April 5 to May 15, 2016), by Ruhl, tells the story of two actors with a romantic past who must reunite for a stage revival in which they play characters who were previously involved with each other. The comedy was produced at New York’s Playwrights Horizons last year.

The Geffen will present the world premiere of “Big Sky” (June 7 to July 17, 2016), by Gersten-Vassilaros. The company described it only as a “family comedy.”

An eighth production will be announced at a later date.

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT