A company of actors including David Strathairn, Maria Tucci, Joe Grifasi, Gloria Reuben and Aidan Quinn join Dennehy onstage. Nelson's new play, which he also directs, chronicles those entangled in Julius Caesar's world of manipulation and power.

Conversations in Tusculum, according to press notes, is described in this manner: "The country you love and the values it represents are being destroyed by a misguided leader. You can continue to live in relative comfort by not involving yourself, or you can take action to save the democracy you love."

Dennehy portrays Cicero, with Quinn as Brutus, Grifasi as Syrus, Reuben as Porcia, Strathairn as Cassius and Tucci as Servilia.

Playwright Richard Nelson earned the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for James Joyce's The Dead, a production he also directed. His other works for Broadway include Two Shakespearean Actors, Some Americans Abroad, the book for the musical Chess, as well as adaptations of The Father, Accidental Death of an Anarchist and The Marriage of Figaro.

Conversations will officially open March 11 and play a limited engagement through March 23. For tickets call (212) 539-8750 or visit www.publictheater.org.

The Public Theater is located at 425 Lafayette Street in Manhattan.