Compulsion, Starring Mandy Patinkin, to Play Additional Performances at the Public Theater

Rinne Groff’s Compulsion, starring Tony winner Mandy Patinkin, will add two performances to its scheduled run at off-Broadway’s Public Theater. The world premiere play, which began performances February 1 and opens February 17, has added two additional weekend performances on March 4 and 5. Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis helms the play, which will end its limited engagement on 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.

In addition to Patinkin, Compulsion stars Hannah Cabell and Matte Osian, and the puppeteering talents of Emily DeCola, Daniel Fay and Eric Wright.