Playwright David Hare will make his Broadway debut in a one-man play written by himself about, well, himself. Via Dolorosa, which premiered at London's Royal Court Theater in September 1998, will open at Broadway's Booth Theatre on March 18. Previews will begin March 5. The New York engagement is a Lincoln Center Theatre presentation and is part of LCT's regular season.
A twenty-week, limited Broadway run of Dolorosa was approved by Actors' Equity on Dec. 9, a spokesman for Equity told PBOL.
Hare's solo turn is backed up by two other heavy hitters of the British theatre: director Stephen Daldry and set designer Ian MacNeil. Daldry won a Tony for his direction of the Broadway revival of An Inspector Calls a few seasons back. He was the artistic director of London's Royal Court Theatre from 1992 to 1998, where he mounted Rat in the Skull, This Is a Chair, The Editing Process and Search and Destroy.
MacNeil is Daldry's frequent artistic partner, having designed An Inspector Calls (Tony Award), This Is a Chair and The Editing Process. Another Inspector veteran, Rick Fisher, will do the lighting for Via.
In 1997, after many invitations, 50-year-old playwright Hare decided to pay a three-week visit to the state of Israel, then celebrating its own 50th birthday. Deeply touched by the experience, he began a memoir which became Via Dolorosa. The play offers a meditation on the time spent in both Israel and Palestine, which leaves the author questioning his own values in the context of the powerful beliefs of those he met. Via Dolorosa or "Way of Sadness" premiered at the West End's Royal Court Downstairs (at the Duke of York's) in a month-long run in September 1998.
Hare's many plays include current Broadway sensation: The Blue Room starring Nicole Kidman, last season's The Judas Kiss, and the Broadway-bound Amy's View. Other works include Plenty, The Secret Rapture, The Absence of War, and The Changing Room. The London run of Via Dolorosa marked Hare's professional acting debut.
Via Dolorosa marks the third Hare play to open on Broadway in the 1998-99 season and the fourth (if you count Judas Kiss) in a twelve month period.
