Robert Schenkkan's BUILDING THE WALL to Close Early Off-Broadway

BUILDING THE WALL, the new play by Pulitzer and Tony winner Robert Schenkkan (All The Way, Hacksaw Ridge - Academy Award nom. The Kentucky Cycle), currently making its New York premiere at New World Stages has announced an early closing.

Originally set to run through July 9, the playwright revealed on Twitter today the production will play its final show this weekend.

The two-person political suspense thriller features two stars of the screen and stage: James Badge Dale (Small Engine Repair, The Pacific, "Rubicon", The Departed) and Tamara Tunie (Julius Caesar, "Law & Order: SVU", The Devil's Advocate) and is directed by Ari Edelson (Artistic Director of the Exchange; Little Black Dress, Expats).

The design team includes: scenic design by Antje Ellermann, lighting design by Tyler Micoleau, costume design by Georgie Lee, and sound design by Bart Fasbender.

From America's greatest political playwright, Pulitzer & Tony winner and Academy Award nominee Robert Schenkkan, comes a provocative 90-minute theatrical event set in the near future and deals with one of the most talked about topics of this past election. In a time when campaign rhetoric turns into real policies, Building the Wall reveals the power of theater to question who we are and where we might be going.

In an interview with Michael Paulson from The New York Times for a February 5th article, Schenkkan said: "I wrote this in a white-hot fury. We no longer live in a world that is business as usual - Trump has made that very clear - and if theater is going to remain relevant, we must become faster to respond. We cannot hope to be useful if we can't respond until 18 months after the fact. It is not a crazy or extreme fantasy. It's very solidly grounded in current American law, and Trump's rhetoric, and his most recent executive orders."

The play is produced by Jeffrey Richards, Rebecca Gold, Louise Gund, Ted Snowdon, Stephanie P. McClelland, Scott M. Delman, Barbara Freitag & Will Trice.

Photo Credit: Carol Rosegg