Artistic director Barry Edelstein will helm the limited engagement, which officially opens Feb. 19 at 8 PM.

“I’m honored to bring Nathan Englander’s beautiful and powerful play to the Globe in its first production since its New York premiere,” said Edelstein in a statement. “The play highlights a little-known episode in 20th-century history that deserves to be remembered, but its canvas is much larger than that. It talks about the potency of art and the necessity of stories, and it reminds us that while tyranny is a sad constant in human life, so are wit, wisdom, and the creative spark. Englander’s very specific voice speaks to universal themes, and I know San Diego audiences will be moved by his work.”

The cast will be headed by Tony and Emmy winner Hal Linden as Yiddish writer Yevgeny Zunser with Lowell Byers as the Guard, Robert Dorfman as Vasily Korinsky, Eli Gelb as Pinchas Pelovitz, Ron Orbach as Moishe Bretzky and James Shanklin as Agent in Charge.

"In a Soviet prison in 1952, Stalin’s secret police have rounded up 26 writers, the giants of Yiddish literature in Russia," according to press notes. "As judgment looms, a 27th suddenly appears: a teenager, unpublished and unknown. Baffled by his arrest, he and his cellmates wonder at what has brought them together and wrestle with what it means to write in troubled times."

The creative team includes Michael McGarty (scenic design), Katherine Roth (costume design), Russell H. Champa (lighting design), Darron L West (sound design), Caparelliotis Casting (casting) and Anjee Nero (stage manager). Single tickets go on sale Jan. 16. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.