Tony Award-winning South Pacific director Bartlett Sher directed the limited engagement of the Afghanistan-set political piece that began previews Off-Broadway Oct. 27 and opened to good reviews Nov. 21 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater.
It will now plan an additional week of performances past its originally scheduled closing date of Dec. 31.
Blood and Gifts premiered as a 25-minute short play in 2009 as part of the London Tricycle Theatre's 12-play epic The Great Game Afghanistan. Rogers adapted the decade-spanning work as a full-length play, which played the National Theatre in London last fall to strong reviews.
The cast includes Michael Aronov, Jeremy Davidson, Robert Hogan, Jefferson Mays, Andrés Munar, Paul Niebanck, John Procaccino, Liv Rooth, Gabriel Ruiz, Pej Vahdat, Andrew Weems and Bernard White.
According to LCT, "Blood and Gifts tells the story of the secret spy war behind the official Soviet-Afghan War of the 1980s. Spanning a decade and playing out in Washington, DC, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the play follows CIA operative Jim Warnock as he struggles to stop the Soviet Army's destruction of Afghanistan. The ground constantly shifts for Jim and his counterparts in the KGB and British and Pakistani secret service as the political and personal alliances between the men keep changing. And as the outcome of the entire Cold War comes into play, Jim and a larger-than-life Afghan warlord find the only person they can trust is each other. Blood and Gifts tells the story of the unknown men who shaped one of the greatest historical events of recent history, the repercussions of which continue to shape our world." Designing the production are Michael Yeargan, set design; Catherine Zuber, costume design; Donald Holder, lighting design; and Peter John Still, sound design.
J.T. Rogers is the author of the play The Overwhelming (produced in New York by the Roundabout Theater Company and in London at the National Theatre, in association with Out of Joint), Madagascar, White People, Murmuring in a Dead Tongue and Seeing the Elephant, which was nominated for the Kesselring Prize for Best New American Play.
For tickets visit LCT. The Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater is located at 150 West 65th Street.
