Mandy Patinkin to Star in Anne Frank-Inspired Drama Compulsion at the Public Theater

Tony Award winner Mandy Patinkin will star in the Public Theater’s upcoming production of Rinne Groff’s Compulsion, alongside co-stars Matte Osian and Hannah Cabell. Patinkin originated his role in a pair of 2010 productions of the play, first at Yale Repertory Theatre and then at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Helmed by Public Theater artistic director Oskar Eustis, Compulsion will begins previews on February 1, 2011 ahead of an official opening February 17. The limited engagement will continue through March 13.

Compulsion is inspired by Meyer Levin, a journalist and screenwriter who helped publicize the existence of Anne Frank’s celebrated diary and later claimed that the chance to adapt it for the stage had been stolen from him. Patinkin’s character, Sid Silver, is based on Levin, who was among the first to visit the concentration camps after World War II as a war correspondent. Compulsion is part historical fiction, part investigation into what makes a man obsess, and part exploration of an untold dimension of Anne Frank's powerful legacy.

Patinkin’s numerous Broadway credits include his Tony Award-winning performance in Evita, as well as turns in Sunday in the Park with George, The Secret Garden, Falsettos and The Wild Party. Most recently, he starred in the London production of Paradise Found. Patinkin's many film credits include The Princess Bride, Yentl, Dick Tracy and Lulu on the Bridge as well as leading roles on the TV series’ Chicago Hope, Criminal Minds and Dead Like Me.

Osian has appeared on Broadway in Twelfth Night at Lincoln Center and Twelve Angry Men for the Roundabout Theatre Company. His off-Broadway credits include The Adjustment, Portia Coughlan, Portraits, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui with Al Pacino, and Silence, Cunning, Exile for The Public Theater.

Cabell was last seen on Broadway in Roundabout's revival of A Man for All Seasons. Other New York credits include Gentleman Caller, Jane Eyre, Mark Smith, The Zero Hour, Millicent Scowlworthy and Pumpgirl. Her regional credits include Compulsion at Yale Repertory Theatre, the world premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room (or the vibrator play) at Berkeley Rep, Mary’s Wedding and Sedition at Westport County Playhouse and Sarah Ruhl’s adaptation of The Three Sisters at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.

Compulsion will feature scenic design by Eugene Lee; costume design by Susan Hilferty; lighting design by Michael Chybowski; sound design by Darron L West; and video and projection design by Jeff Sugg.