Melissa Maxwell will direct Richard Sewell's adaptation of Lessing's 1779 work that will play a limited four-week engagement through Jan. 4, 2009.

Nathan the Wise, according to press notes, "is the tale of a Jewish merchant in Muslim Jerusalem at the time of the Christian Crusades – a tale which makes a remarkable plea for brotherhood. This timeless story of a world clinging to hope during an era of chaos poses the timeliest questions about tolerance and truth."

The cast for the Pearl production features Jolly Abraham, Robin Leslie Brown, Robert Hock, Edward Seamon, Robert M. Hefley, Susan Heyward, Carman Lacivita, John Livingstone Rolle and Dathan B. Williams.

Nathan the Wise has scenic design by Harry Feiner, costume design by Barbara A. Bell, lighting design by Deborah Constantine and sound design by Jane Shaw.

For tickets, priced $25, phone (212) 598-9802. The Pearl Theatre Company is located at 80 St. Marks Place (at First Avenue) in the East Village. For more information visit www.pearltheatre.org.

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The Pearl Theatre Company's artistic director Shepard Sobel explains the mission of the troupe as such: "The Pearl produces a classical repertory because the great plays of the last 2,500 years provide a context, a perspective, by which we here in America in 2007 may see ourselves more clearly. We can — and have an obligation to — design the strength and character of the future only by knowing the character of the past."