The Americans Keri Russell will join the previously announced Adam Driver in Michael Mayers Broadway revival of Lanford Wilsons Burn This, producer David Binder announced today. The play begins performances in March 2019 at a theater to be announced.
The production will mark Russells first appearance on a New York stage since her 2005 Off-Broadway debut in Neil LaButes Fat Pig.
Russell will play Anna, one of four New Yorkers brought together at a funeral following an accidental death. Set in the gritty downtown New York of the 1980s, Burn This focuses on the tempestuous relationship between dancer Anna, who was roommates with the recently deceased Robbie, and Pale (Driver), Robbies sexy and dangerous brother.
Additional casting and design team will be announced shortly.
Before the announcement of Drivers casting last December, Mayer was set to direct a Burn This revival with Jake Gyllenhaal in 2017. Gyllenhaal later opted to take the stage with a critically lauded starring role in Sunday in the Park with George.
Russells role was originated Off-Broadway in 1987 by Joan Allen, with John Malkovich co-starring as Pale; the production subsequently transferred to Broadway. A 2002 revival starred Edward Norton and Catherine Keener.
In addition to The Americans, Russells credits include Felicity, co-created by J.J. Abrams, who will direct Russell in the 2019 Star Wars: Episode IX. Also next year, Russell will appear in horror thriller Antlers, directed by Scott Cooper and produced by Guillermo del Toro.
Driver, currently appearing in Spike Lees BlacKkKlansman, starred in Rian Johnsons Star Wars: The Last Jedi. His breakthrough role on Girls earned him three Emmy nominations, and his stage credits include Broadways Man and Boy and Mrs. Warrens Profession. He appeared Off-Broadway in Look Back in Anger and Angels in America.
Producer Binders credits include the Tony-winning Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the revival of John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men starring James Franco and Chris ODowd, and A Raisin in the Sun starring Sean Combs, Phylicia Rashad and Audra McDonald.
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