Family dysfunction and thousands of gallons of water in the theater course through the play “If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet,” now in previews for a Sept. 20 opening.

Written by young British author Nick Payne, the dark comedy is noteworthy for marking the New York stage debut of Hollywood heartthrob Jake Gyllenhaal.

The “Brokeback Mountain” Oscar nominee plays errant Uncle Terry. Oklahoma-raised Annie Funke is his tormented, overweight 15-year-old niece Anna. Her parents are played by Irish actor Brian F. O’Byrne, a Tony winner for “Frozen” also known from TV’s “Prime Suspect,” and Scottish actress Michelle Gomez, another Off-Broadway newcomer.

Over coffee and some gentle ribbing, the four talked about being a family — on and off stage.

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Check out the first photos of Jake in ‘If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet’, courtesy of BroadwayWorld.com.

The play is currently in previews and officially opens on September 20th. This is a strictly limited engagement of 13-weeks, through November 25th. Head on over to the Roundabout Theater website to buy your tickets!

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Miscellaneous > If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet (Theater) (2012) > On Stage

“The bottom line is that it’s just fucking great writing,” Jake Gyllenhaal says of his American stage debut, Off-Broadway play “If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet.”

Gyllenhaal stars as the couch-crashing Uncle Terry in Nick Payne’s British drama, opposite Brían F. O’Byrne, Michelle Gomez, and Annie Funke. “It’s about family,” Gyllenhaal says. “I think family is the most important thing in the world. I think your own family is the most complicated thing in the world, and I think it’s the most beautiful thing in the world. I think it’s what I love the most.

“Somebody was trying to get an angle on why I moved to New York, and I was like, ‘Because my family is here and I love them. And I want to be with them and they mean everything to me.’

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Jake Gyllenhaal made a deal with himself 10 years ago: For every three movies he made, he would perform in a play.

It was a deal he didn’t keep.

He was 21 back then, on a high from his London stage debut as a sensitive slacker in Kenneth Lonergan’s “This Is Our Youth,” the sort of hangdog character that had turned him into an indie darling in movies like “Donnie Darko” and “Lovely & Amazing.” But going off to do plays isn’t part of the Hollywood fast track for young actors still proving themselves at the box office. So Mr. Gyllenhaal tested for the Spider-Man and Batman franchises and other roles that might transform him into an action hero or leading man.

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TNYT has published a photo of Jake and Brian F. O’Bryne rehearsing ‘If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet’.

Miscellaneous > If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet (Theater) (2012) > Rehearsals