Jon Robin Baitz' The Substance of Fire Added to Second Stage's Season

Jon Robin Baitz’ The Substance of Fire has been added to Second Stage Theatre's 35th anniversary season. Directed by Trip Cullman, The Substance of Fire will begin performances on April 22, with opening night set for May 12. Casting and the full creative team will be announced at a later date.

The Substance of Fire follows the story of a family united by a proud past but facing an uncertain future. Isaac Geldhart, the volatile and brilliant patriarch of his family publishing house, is stubbornly holding on to his place at the head of the company while his three children try to convince him to publish a desperately needed best-seller. Confronted with a changing literary landscape and potential takeover of the company, the Geldhart children must either come to terms with their father and band together or break apart and forfeit the legacy he risked everything to build. 

Baitz received a Tony nomination for Other Desert Cities. Other work includes The Film Society, The End of The Day, Three Hotels, A Fair Country, an adaptation of Hedda Gabler and TV’s Brothers & Sisters, Alias and The West Wing.

This will be the first New York staging of The Substance of Fire since its original off-Broadway production 23 years ago starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Ron Rifkin and directed by Daniel Sullivan. It subsequently transferred to Lincoln Center's Mitzi Newhouse Theatre and was also made into a 1996 film starring Tony Goldwyn, Parker and Rifkin.