Kim T. Sharp will stage the New York City premiere of the "tender and shocking play, set in present day Cairo," in which "a British expatriate writer and his male Egyptian lover are forced to examine the fine line between conviction and obsession as they confront a repressive government and their own identities."
Merrill, who appeared in Irish Repertory Theatre's Beowulf and The Bells of Christmas in Manhattan, will play Nicholas Field, the British ex-pat. Sheikh will play Mohammed El-Qahira.
Cry Havoc will run Oct. 20-Nov. 11 in the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre.
The drama had its world premiere in 2003 in a production by Philadelphia's InterAct Theatre Company.
"Surrounded by poverty, religious fundamentalism and political repression, these educated, morally-centered yet disenfranchised men pursue divergent paths toward escape and extremism," according to earlier InterAct notes. Tickets for the Off-Broadway run will be $20. For more information about the 15th season of Abingdon Theatre Company, visit www.abingdontheatre.org.