Democracy director Michael Blakemore interviewed tonight on New York Close-Up

DEMOCRACY director Michael Blakemore will be interviewed tonight, Thursday, February 17, on "New York Close-Up". The program airs from 9:00-9:30 PM on New York 1.

DEMOCRACY, written by Michael Frayn, is playing at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 West 47th Street). The Broadway production of DEMOCRACY is directed by Michael Blakemore. It is the eighth collaboration between Frayn and Blakemore, and their first since winning Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Director of a Play in 2000 for Copenhagen.

DEMOCRACY stars James Naughton (Willy Brandt), Richard Thomas (Günter Guillaume), Robert Prosky (Herbert Wehner) and Michael Cumpsty (Arno Kretschmann), with Terry Beaver (Reinhard Wilke), John Dossett (Helmut Schmidt), Julian Gamble (Ulrich Bauhaus), John Christopher Jones (Hans-Dietrich Genscher) , Richard Masur (Horst Ehmke) and Lee Wilkof (Günther Nollau).

DEMOCRACY is an exhilarating mix of Cold War spy thriller, political shell game and human drama about the nature of identity. The play follows the astonishing career of Willy Brandt (James Naughton), the first left-of-center chancellor in West Germany in 40 years, and his downfall at the hands of his trusted assistant, Günter Guillaume (Richard Thomas), who is secretly spying on Brandt for the notorious East German Stasi.

Set design is by Peter J. Davison, costume design by Sue Willmington, lighting design by Mark Henderson and sound design by Neil Alexander.

DEMOCRACY is produced by Boyett/Ostar Productions, Nederlander Presentations, Inc., Jean Doumanian, Stephanie McClelland, Arielle Tepper, Amy Nederlander, Eric Falkenstein and Roy Furman.

Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 8:00 PM, with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2:00 PM, Sunday at 3:00 PM. Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com or at 212: 307-4100, or at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre box office (256 West 47th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue).