Photo Flash: Stage Adaptation of Ayn Rand's ANTHEM, Now Playing at Baryshnikov Arts Center

The Austin Shakespeare Theatre Company presents the New York premiere of Ayn Rand's novel Anthem, adapted for the stage by composer Jeff Britting, curator of the Ayn Rand Archives. Previews for Anthem began September 25 at the Jerome Robbins Theater at the Baryshnikov Arts Center (450 W. 37th Street). Opening night is scheduled for Monday, October 7th for a limited ten-week run through December 1, 2013. Check out a first look at the cast in action below!

ANTHEM is the story of a young man, EQUALITY 7-2521, who is born into a future world that has banished all individuality. Not satisfied with a world lighted by candles, EQUALITY fosters his love of discovery in an abandoned subway, a relic of the past. In solitude, EQUALITY rediscovers electricity and a new source of light. Above ground he meets and falls in love with LIBERTY 5-3000, committing a further "sin of preference."

The cast of Anthem includes: Matthew Lieff Christian as Equality, Lelund DurondThompson as International, Tina Johnson as Old Woman, and Sofia Lauwers as Liberty. Sarah Walker Thornton & Alex Teicheira make up the ensemble.

Directed by Ann Ciccolella, artistic director of the Austin Shakespeare Theatre Company, Anthem has set design by Kevin Judge, Costume Design by Theresa Squire, Lighting Design by Jason Amato and Sound Design by Anthony Mattana.

Originally conceived as a play while Rand was a Soviet university student, the novelANTHEM was written in the U.S in the summer of 1937, during a break Rand took from the writing of her novel The Fountainhead. Anthem was published in England in 1938. Since its full American publication in 1961, the work has sold more than 5 million copies.

Originally produced by Austin Shakespeare in 2011, Anthem's Off-Broadway staging coincides with the celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the novel's publication.

Opening on October 7th, Anthem will run through December 1, 2013. Tickets, priced at $50-69, will be available through: www.AnthemthePlay.com or through Ovation Tickets at 866-811-4111.

Photos by: Carol Rosegg