Sarah Ruhl's three-act epic, under the direction of Obie Award winner Mark Wing-Davey, officially opens Sept. 25 and will run through Oct. 11.
In the era-spanning work, Chalfant portrays historical leaders Queen Elizabeth, Adolf Hitler and Ronald Reagan. The cast also features Austin Durant (Carpenter 2), Laura Esposito (Ensemble), Dieterich Gray (Machinist/German Officer/Young Director), Brian Hastert (Ensemble), Slate Holmgren (Ensemble), Polly Noonan (Village Idiot/Violet), Barret O’Brien (Ensemble), Susan Pourfar (Mary 1), Keith Reddin (Director), Luke Robertson (Ensemble), Thomas Jay Ryan (Visiting Friar/Visiting Englishman/VA), Felix Solis (Pontius the fish-gutter), Joaquín Torres (John the Fisherman) and Nicole Wiesner (Mary 2).
Passion Play — which begins in 1575 England, leaps to 1934 Germany and finally to contemporary America — utilizes the depiction of the final days of Christ to explore the relationship between faith and politics. Originally penned as two one-acts, Ruhl was commissioned by Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage to create the third and final act.
Ruhl returns to Yale Rep having presented the world premiere of The Clean House and Eurydice there, prior to their Off-Broadway incarnations.
The creative team includes Tony-nominated scenic designer Allen Moyer, associate scenic designer Warren Karp, costume designer Ilona Somogyi, lighting designer Stephen Strawbridge, sound designer Charles Coes, projections designer Ruppert Bohle and dramaturg Colin Mannex. Kathleen Chalfant earned a Tony nomination for her work in Tony Kushner's Angels in America: Millennium Approaches. Chalfant's credits include her Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Obie, Drama League, Lucille Lortel and Los Angeles Ovation Award-winning performance in Wit. Her additional credits include Dead Man's Cell Phone, Vita & Virginia, Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell, M. Butterfly, Racing Demon, The Vagina Monologues, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, Henry V, and Nine Armenians.
Sarah Ruhl is a Pulitzer Prize finalist whose works include Dead Man's Cell Phone, The Clean House, Eurydice, Lady with the Lap Dog and Anna Round the Neck, Late: A Cowboy Song, Orlando and Melancholy Play.
For further information visit yalerep.org.
Yale Repertory Theatre is located at 1120 Chapel Street in New Haven, CT.
