When the show opens at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Nov. 18, theatregoers will (hopefully) know whether Republican President George W. Bush or his Democratic challenger John Kerry has won the White House. Whoever the victor, though, he better hope he has surrounded himself with more trustworthy assistants than Günter Guillaume. Guillaume was the duplicitous aide, in secret an East German spy, who brought down the government of West German chancellor Willy Brandt. Their story is told by Frayn in Democracy.

James Naughton will portray Brandt opposite Richard Thomas as Guillaume. The cast will also feature Robert Prosky as Wehner and Michael Cumpsty as Kretschmann.

Completing the company are Terry Beaver (Reinhard Wilke), John Dossett (Helmut Schmidt), Julian Gamble (Ulrich Bauhaus), John Christopher Jones (Hans-Dietrich Genscher) , Richard Masur (Horst Ehmke) and Lee Wilkof (Günther Nollau).

Michael Blakemore, who directed in England, repeats his work, which reunited him with his Copenhagen playwright. The latter play won the 2000 Tony Award for Best Play and Best Director.

"A thrilling and moving tale of espionage, loyalty, unexpected betrayals and the paths we choose in life, Democracy is set in West Germany in the late 1960s – a time of hope and unlimited possibilities," according to an earlier announcement. "The play charts the astonishing career of Willy Brandt, in his brief but remarkable tenure as Germany's first liberal leader for nearly 40 years. Always present but rarely noticed is Günter Guillaume, Brandt's devoted personal assistant – and no less devoted in his other role as a double-agent, spying on Brandt for East Germany's infamous Ministry of State Security."

The play opened to raves at the National's Cottesloe Theatre in August 2003, where it won the 2003 Evening Standard Award for Best Play, the 2003 Critics' Circle Award for Best Play and the 2003 South Bank Award for Best Play. The production recently opened in London's West End at Wyndhams Theatre.

James Naughton, most recently on Broadway in the short-lived Prymate, won his first Tony Award in 1990 for his performance in Cy Coleman's City of Angels and his second for his work in the revival of Chicago; his other Broadway credits include Four Baboons Adoring the Sun, I Love My Wife and Whose Life Is It Anyway?, and he has been seen Off-Broadway in E.L. Doctorow's Drinks Before Dinner and Losing Time. Also a director, his production of Arthur Miller's The Price, which premiered at the Williamstown Theater Festival, moved to Broadway and garnered a Tony nomination for Best Revival of a Play.

On Broadway Richard Thomas has been seen in Love Letters, The Front Page, Fifth of July, Everything in the Garden, The Playroom, Strange Interlude and Sunrise at Campobello. He recently took part in the Kennedy Center's celebration of Tennessee Williams starring in the solo show Letters from Tennessee: A Distant Country Called Youth. Thomas, however, is best known for his Emmy-winning work on TV's "The Waltons."

Michael Cumpsty's numerous Broadway credits include Artist Descending a Staircase, La Bete, Timon of Athens, The Heiress, Translations, Racing Demon, 1776, Electra, Copenhagen, 42nd Street and Enchanted April.

Robert Prosky's work on The Great White Way includes Moonchildren, A View from the Bridge, Glengarry Glen Ross and A Walk in the Woods. Prosky was Tony-nominated for his performances in both Glengarry and Woods.