Video: Watch Josh Radnor Discuss THE ALLY at The Public Theater

Josh Radnor discusses the impact of Itamar Moses's The Ally at the Public Theater, currently running through April 7.

"Contempory plays, new plays, are what I always wanted to do as an actor. A play that leans into its moment--that is almost helping people understand the moment." states Radnor of the play.

"This play opens up a window into this incredibly thorny, complicated, seemingly intractable thing and just takes the widest possible view of it and the most compassionate view of it from every different angle."

Directed by Drama Desk Award winner Lila Neugebauer, THE ALLY is a passionate, provocative, and unflinching new play about the vanishing line between the personal and the political.

When college professor Asaf is asked by a student to sign a social justice manifesto, what seems at first like a simple choice instead embroils him in an increasingly complex web of conflicting agendas that challenge his allegiances as a progressive, a husband, an artist, an academic, an American, an atheist, and a Jew. With tensions at an all-time high, Asaf is forced to confront the age-old question: “If I am only for myself, what am I?” THE ALLY is a passionate, provocative, and unflinching new play about the vanishing line between the personal and the political.
 
The cast features Cherise Boothe (Nakia), Elijah Jones (Baron), Michael Khalid Karadsheh (Farid), Joy Osmanski (Gwen), Josh Radnor (Asaf), Ben Rosenfield (Reuven), and Madeline Weinstein (Rachel).
 
The production team includes scenic design by Lael Jellinek, costume design by Sarita Fellows, lighting design by Reza Behjat, sound design by Bray Poor, and prop management by Claire M. Kavanah. Roxana Khan serves as the production stage manager. Jenn Elyse Jacobs serves as the stage manager.