Roundabout to Present The Overwhelming, Drama Set in Rwanda

Roundabout Theatre Company will kick off its fall season off-Broadway with the American premiere of J.T. Rogers' The Overwhelming, directed by Max Stafford-Clark. The play will begin previews on September 28 and open officially on October 17 at the Laura Pels Theatre. The limited engagement is set to run through December 23, with a cast and design team to be announced shortly.

The Overwhelming is the story of an American family, newly arrived in Kigali, Rwanda, in early 1994, who come face-to-face with the realization that nothing and no one around them is what they understood it to be. Finding themselves embroiled in events beyond their understanding, three Americans struggle to discover who they can trust and what they will do when faced with matters of life and death.

The world premiere of The Overwhelming took place in May 2006 at London's Cottesloe Theatre, presented by the National Theatre in association with Out of Joint. The acclaimed production then toured England through the summer and fall of 2006.

Rogers, a Brooklyn-based playwright, is the author of The Overwhelming, Madagascar, White People and other plays.