Michael Aronov, Jeremy Davidson, Robert Hogan, Jefferson Mays, Andrés Munar, Paul Niebanck, John Procaccino, Liv Rooth, Gabriel Ruiz, Pej Vahdat, Andrew Weems and Bernard White will be featured in the Lincoln Center Theater's upcoming production of BLOOD AND GIFTS, a new play by J.T. Rogers, to be directed by Bartlett Sher at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (150 West 65 Street). Opening night is Monday, November 21.
Commissioned by
Lincoln Center Theater, and presented last year at
The National Theatre, BLOOD AND GIFTS tells the story of the secret spy war behind the official Soviet-Afghan War of the 1980s. Spanning a decade and playing out in Washington DC, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, the play follows CIA operative Jim Warnock (to be played by
Jeremy Davidson) as he struggles to stop the Soviet Army's destruction of Afghanistan. The ground constantly shifts for Jim and his counterparts in the KGB and British and Pakistani secret service as the political and personal alliances between the men keeps changing. And as the outcome of the entire Cold War comes into play, Jim and a larger-than-life Afghan warlord find the only person they can trust is each other.
J.T. Rogers is the author of the play The Overwhelming (produced in New York by the
Roundabout Theater Company and in London at
The National Theatre, in association with Out of Joint), Madagascar, White People, Murmuring in a Dead Tongue and Seeing the Elephant which was nominated for the Kesselring Prize for Best New American Play. An earlier version of BLOOD AND GIFTS was presented as part of a cycle of 11 plays about Afghanistan titled The Great Game: Afghanistan at the
Tricycle Theatre in London.
Bartlett Sher, Resident Director at
Lincoln Center Theater, directed the LCT productions of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Joe Turner's Come and Gone (Tony nomination), South Pacific (Tony Award), Awake and Sing! (Tony nomination,) and The Light in the Piazza (Tony nomination). Former Artistic Director of Seattle's Intiman Theater, his other NY credits include productions at
Playwrights Horizons and Theatre for a New Audience. His opera credits include the MET productions of The Barber of Seville, The Tales of Hoffman and Comte d'Ory.
Now in its 27th year,
Lincoln Center Theater is currently presenting, with
The National Theatre of Great Britain and
Bob Boyett,
The National Theatre's production of
War Horse, winner of the 2011 Tony Award for Best Play. This fall, LCT will also produce the Broadway transfer of its critically acclaimed production of
Jon Robin Baitz's Other Desert Cities, directed by
Joe Mantello at the Booth Theatre beginning Wednesday, October 12. In addition, LCT3,
Lincoln Center Theater's programming initiative devoted to the work of new artists, will present the world premiere of All-American, a new play by
Julia Brownell, directed by
Evan Cabnet, beginning performances Monday, October 24 at the Duke on 42nd Street (229 West 42 Street). In Spring 2012 LCT3 will move to its new home, the 131-seat Claire Tow Theater, currently under construction on the roof of the Vivian Beaumont Theater.
Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos
