Off-Broadway NewsMichael Shannon and Johanna Day to Star Off-Broadway a Little Longer
Theatre for a New Audience has extended Denis Johnson's dark comedy Des Moines.
By
Leah Putnam
December 21, 2022
Michael Shannon, Hari Nef, Heather Alicia Simms, Johanna Day, and Arliss Howard in Des MoinesGerry Goodstein
Theatre for a New Audience has extended Des Moines one week, with performances now continuing through January 8. Starring two-time Tony nominee Johanna Day (Sweat, Proof) and Oscar, Golden Globe, and Tony nominee Michael Shannon (Knives Out, Long Day鈥檚 Journey into Night), the play runs Off-Broadway at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center where it officially opened December 16. Read reviews here.
In Des Moines, Iowa, five characters are brought together by chance events鈥攊ncluding a plane crash, a rescued wedding ring, and a frightening diagnosis. Denis Johnson's dark comedy brings features karaoke, liquor, and sex as it "confronts death, mortality, and the stubborn pursuit of grace among those who barely believe in it."
Starring alongside Shannon and Day are Heather Alicia Simms (Ma Rainey鈥檚 Black Bottom, A Raisin in the Sun), Arliss Howard (Mank, Joe Turner鈥檚 Come and Gone), and Hari Nef (鈥凄补诲诲测鈥�,Transparent).
Director Arin Arbus helms the production and the creative team comprising scenic designer Riccardo Hern谩ndez (Jagged Little Pill), costume designer Qween Jean (Wedding Band), lighting designer Scott Zielinski, sound designer Mikaal Sulaiman (Macbeth), and choreographer Byron Easley (Slave Play).
Previews began December 10 following delays due to COVID.
Des Moines originally made its world premiere in 2007 at San Francisco鈥檚 Intersection for the Arts, following which it was further developed by Johnson until 2013. In 2015, Arbus worked with Johnson on the director's first exploration of the play via a TFANA workshop.
For tickets and more information, visit .
Go inside rehearsals with the gallery below.
0
of
Step Inside the Rehearsal Room for Denis Johnson's Des Moines
Step Inside the Rehearsal Room for Denis Johnson's Des Moines
16 PHOTOS
Arliss Howard, Heather Alicia Simms, and Arin Arbus in rehearsal for Des Moines
Hollis King
Arliss Howard, Michael Shannon, and Johanna Day in rehearsal for Des Moines
Hollis King
Arliss Howard, Michael Shannon, and Johanna Dayin rehearsal for Des Moines
Hollis King
Michael Shannon, Johanna Day, and Arliss Howard in rehearsal for Des Moines
Hollis King
Michael Shannon, Johanna Day, and Arliss Howard in rehearsal for Des Moines
The play by Emil Weinstein is based on the memoir by Abby Chava Stein, an openly transgender woman directly descended from Hasidic Judaism's founder, the Baal Shem Tov.
The piece stars Obie Award winner Jodie Markell as propagandist filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, whose work in service of the Nazis defined the visual identity of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich.