Initial casting is set for Tom Stoppard’s new play The Hard Problem, which will make its previously announced New York premiere Off-Broadway at Lincoln Center Theater’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater this fall. Jack O'Brien will direct.
Performances of the new LCT production begin October 25 with an official opening November 19. The company will include Eshan Bay, Adelaide Clemens, Nina Grollman, Katie Beth Hall, Chris O’Shea, Tara Summers, and Karoline Xu, with additional casting to be announced at a later date.
The play made its world premiere at London’s National Theatre in 2015, directed by Nicholas Hytner and made its U.S. premiere in Philadelphia in 2016 at the Wilma Theater.
The Hard Problem refers to the scientific question of consciousness as a young psychology researcher looks at the place where psychology and biology meet. According to production notes, “If there is nothing but matter, what is consciousness? This is “the hard problem” facing science, and for Hilary the possibility of genuine altruism, without a hidden Darwinian self-interest, depends on the answer. Meanwhile she is nursing a private sorrow. She needs a miracle and is prepared to pray for one.”
The production will feature scenic design by David Rockwell, costume design by Catherine Zuber, lighting design by Japhy Weideman, sound design by Jill BC Du Boff, and original music by Bob James.
LCT3 will also premiere a new work by Miranda Rose Hall titled Plot Points In Our Sexual Development, directed by Margot Bordelon, beginning performances October 6 and scheduled to run through November 18 at the Claire Tow Theater (opening night is set for October 22). A graduate of Georgetown and the Yale School of Drama, Hall has developed her plays at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Playwrights Realm, New York Theatre Workshop, and more.
Jax Jackson and Marianne Rendon star in this queer love story that explores gender identity and intimacy. The production features scenic design by Andrew Boyce, costume design by Sarafina Bush, lighting design by Jiyoun Chang, and sound design by Brandon Wolcott.
