Box office opens Monday, October 11th for Democracy

The box office opens Monday, October 11th for DEMOCRACY, the new play by Michael Frayn, directed by Michael Blakemore. DEMOCRACY opens November 18th at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 West 47th Street). Previews begin November 3rd.

DEMOCRACY reunites Frayn and Blakemore for the first time since Copenhagen, the 2000 Tony® Award winner for Best Play and Best Director. The play opened to rave reviews at The National Theatre of Great Britain in August, 2003, where it won the 2003 Evening Standard Award for Best Play, the 2003 Critics' Circle Award for Best Play, and the 2003 South Bank Award for Best Play. It moved to the West End in April, 2004, where it received even more ecstatic reviews.

The production stars James Naughton as WIlly Brandt, Richard Thomas as Günter Guillaume, Robert Prosky as Herbert Wehner and Michael Cumpsty as Arno Kretschmann, with Terry Beaver as Reinhard Wilke, John Dossett as Helmut Schmidt, Julian Gamble as Ulrich Bauhaus, John Christopher Jones as Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Richard Masur as Horst Ehmke and Lee Wilkof as Günther Nollau.

DEMOCRACY is an exhilarating mix of Cold War spy thriller, political shell game and human drama about the nature of identity. The play follows the astonishing career of Willy Brandt (James Naughton), the first left-of-center chancellor in West Germany in 40 years, and his downfall at the hands of his trusted assistant, Günter Guillaume (Richard Thomas), who is secretly spying on Brandt for the notorious East German Stasi.

Set design is by Peter J. Davison, costume design by Sue Willmington, lighting design by Mark Henderson and sound design by Neil Alexander.

DEMOCRACY is produced by Boyett/Ostar Productions, Nederlander Presentations, Inc., Jean Doumanian, Stephanie McClelland, Arielle Tepper, Amy Nederlander, Eric Falkenstein and Roy Furman.

Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 8:00 PM, with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2:00 PM, Sunday at 3:00 PM. Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com or at 212: 307-4100.

www.ntny.org