A Bright Room Called Day Extends Again at the Public Theater; Bill Heck to Join the Cast

The new off-Broadway production of Tony Kushner's A Bright Room Called Day has received a second extension at the Public Theater. The play will now run through December 22.

The Public has also announced that beginning with the matinee performance on December 14, Bill Heck (Cabaret, Troilus and Cressida) will step into the role of Gregor Bazwald (with the exception of the evening performance on December 14), replacing Grand Horizons-bound Michael Urie.

A Bright Room Called Day suggests the possibility of the Reagan counter-revolution eventually giving rise to American fascism. Agnes, an actress in Weimar Germany, and her cadre of passionate, progressive friends, are torn between protest, escape and survival as the world they knew crumbles around them. Her story is interrupted by an American woman enraged by the cruelty of the Reagan administration, and a new character, grappling with the anxiety, distraction, hope and hopelessness of an artist facing the once unthinkable rise of authoritarianism in modern America.

Rounding out the cast are Tony winner Nikki M. James as Agnes Eggling and Tony nominees Linda Emond as Annabella Gotchling, Jonathan Hadary as Xillah and Estelle Parsons as Die Älte, with Michael Esper as Vealtninc Husz, Grace Gummer as Paulinka Erdnuss, Crystal Lucas-Perry as Zillah, Nadine Malouf as Rosa Malek, Mark Margolis as Gottfried Swetts and Max Woertendyke as Emil Traum.

Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis is at the helm of the production, which features scenic design by David Rockwell, lighting design by John Torres, sound design by Bray Poor, projection design by Lucy Mackinnon and co-costume design by Susan Hilferty and Sarita Fellows.