J.T. Rogers' Blood and Gifts Begins Off-Broadway Oct. 27; Bartlett Sher Directs | Playbill

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News J.T. Rogers' Blood and Gifts Begins Off-Broadway Oct. 27; Bartlett Sher Directs Lincoln Center Theater's American premiere of J.T. Rogers' Afghanistan-set political drama Blood and Gifts, starring Michael Aronov, Jeremy Davidson, Robert Hogan and Jefferson Mays, begins performances Off-Broadway Oct. 27 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater.

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Jefferson Mays Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN

Tony Award-winning South Pacific director Bartlett Sher, who is also the resident director of Lincoln Center Theater, stages the drama about a CIA agent's involvement in the 1980s Soviet-Afghan War. The work first premiered as a 25-minute short play in 2009 as part of the London Tricycle Theatre's 12-play epic The Great Game Afghanistan.

The play was not included when The Great Game made its New York City debut at the Public Theater in December 2010.

Rogers has adapted the decade-spanning work as a full-length play, which played the National Theatre in London last fall to strong reviews. Lincoln Center Theater originally commissioned the play that will open Nov. 21 for a run through Dec. 31.

In addition to Aronov, Davidson, Hogan and Mays, the cast includes Andrés Munar, Paul Niebanck, John Procaccino, Liv Rooth, Gabriel Ruiz, Pej Vahdat, Andrew Weems and Bernard White.

According to LCT, "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 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 keep 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. Blood and Gifts tells the story of the unknown men who shaped one of the greatest historical events of recent history, the repercussions of which continue to shape our world." Designing the production are Michael Yeargan, set design; Catherine Zuber, costume design; Donald Holder, lighting design; and Peter John Still, sound design.

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.

For tickets visit LCT. The Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater is located at 150 West 65th Street.

 
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