Photo Flash: First Look at THE WANDERERS at The Old Globe

The Old Globe's 2017-2018 Season continues with the Globe-commissioned world premiere of Anna Ziegler's new American play The Wanderers, directed by Barry Edelstein, the Globe's Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director. The Wanderers will run April 6 - May 6, 2018 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Tickets start at $30.00 and are on sale to the general public now. Previews run April 6-12. Opening night is Friday, April 13 at 8:00 p.m.

The world premiere of The Wanderers brings playwright Anna Ziegler back to The Old Globe following the success of The Last Match in 2016. Esther and Schmuli are shy young Orthodox Jews embarking on an arranged marriage, despite barely knowing each other. Abe and Julia are high-profile celebrities embarking on a dangerously flirtatious correspondence, despite being married to other people. On the surface, the lives of these two couples couldn't be more different. But Ziegler's funny, insightful, and mysterious new drama, commissioned by the Globe and developed in last year's Powers New Voices Festival, explores the hidden connections between seemingly disparate people, drawing audiences into an intriguing puzzle and a deeply sympathetic look at modern love.

The Wanderers was recognized by three major honors in conjunction with this production, including The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation Theatre Visions Fund Award-a program which selects just one production each year out of a nationwide pool of applicants, with a selection panel which includes theatre luminaries Theodore S. Chapin, Scott Ellis, Tom Hulce, and John Weidman, an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award-which supports an extended rehearsal process for world premiere productions, and a Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Theater Development Grant-which recognizes early career playwrights and their work with development and production grants that support commissions, readings, workshops and first productions.

The cast includes Michelle Beck (Broadway's A Raisin in the Sun, Richard III and Love's Labour's Lost at The Public Theater) as Sophie, Janie Brookshire (Ziegler'sA Delicate Ship, The Philanthropist on Broadway) as Julia Cheever, Ali Rose Dachis (Larry David's Fish in the Dark on Broadway) as Esther, Daniel Eric Gold ("Ugly Betty," Charlie Wilson's War, Obie Award winner for A Small Tragedy Off Broadway) as Abe, and Dave Klasko(King Lear for The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park) as Schmuli.

The creative team includes Marion Williams (Scenic Design), David Israel Reynoso(Costume Design), Amanda Zieve (Lighting Design), Jane Shaw (Sound Design), Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew (Projection Design), David Huber (Voice and Dialect Coach), Caparelliotis Casting (Casting), and Anjee Nero (Production Stage Manager).

"Anna Ziegler continues to rise to prominence as one of the most exciting playwrights of her generation, and it's an honor for the Globe to produce the world premiere of her wonderful and striking new play," said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. "The Wanderers tells two intertwined stories, both of which center on people who seek for something more out of life. Their restlessness-their wanderings-lead them to make choices that change everything, not only for themselves, but also for the people who love them. Anna's writing is emotionally rich and intellectually bracing, and she confers great humanity and dignity on these lost souls. This is a highly original play that I find audacious, absorbing, and moving, and I'm delighted to share it with San Diego audiences."

Photos by Jim Cox.

Ali Rose Dachis and Dave Klasko

Daniel Eric and Michelle Beck

Janie Brookshire and Daniel Eric Gold

Dave Klasko and Ali Rose Dachis

Daniel Eric Gold and Janie Brookshire

Dave Klasko and Ali Rose Dachis as Esther

Michelle Beck and Daniel Eric Gold

Daniel Eric Gold and Michelle Beck

Daniel Eric Gold and Janie Brookshire

Ali Rose Dachis and Dave Klasko

Daniel Eric Gold, Janie Brookshire. Ali Rose Dachis, Dave Klasko, and Michelle Beck

Dave Klasko, Daniel Eric Gold, and Ali Rose Dachis

Dave Klasko, Daniel Eric Gold, Michelle Beck, and Ali Rose Dachis