Junk - 2017 Broadway History , Info & More
Vivian Beaumont Theatre (Broadway)
150 West 65th St. at Broadway New York, NY 10023
Ayad Akhtar returns to Lincoln Center Theater with his new play, JUNK. Set in the high-flying, risk-seeking, teetering financial world of the 1980s and inspired by the real junk bond kings of the day, this riveting story shows us from the inside how money became the only thing that mattered.
Financier Robert Merkin will stop at nothing to take over an iconic American manufacturing company, changing the rules as he goes. With his brilliance matched only by his swagger, Merkin sets in motion nothing less than a financial civil war, pitting magnates against workers, lawyers against journalists, and every one against themselves.
Steven Pasquale (The Bridges of Madison County and TV's "Rescue Me") leads an impeccable cast, directed by Tony winner Doug Hughes (Doubt), in this no-holds-barred portrait of the dark side of the American Dream.
Junk - 2017 - Broadway Cast
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR Junk
Sold! Ayad Akhtar's 'Junk' on Broadway hits fast and hard
9 / 10
Paradoxically, 'Junk' actually represents something of a power grab by Akhtar, the ambitious young author of 'Disgraced' and other taut, oft-domestic, one-act dramas, for a more robust and defining place in the discourse of the American theater. Especially as produced here, 'Junk' is an epic, strutting, restless, sexually charged, slam-bang-wham piece of work, something akin to the huge socio-political dramas by the likes of David Hare, produced for years at the National Theatre in London but far less common on this, less reflective side of the Atlantic. There's a gaping hole, and Akhtar jumps in feet first with his fish-eye lens. Wall Street peddlers will sense there's a kindred spirit building this house of cards, even as Akhtar takes them down.
Junk review – Ayad Akhtar's fast-paced financial thriller falls short
6 / 10
Akhtar favors classical structures and this mention of kings prepares us for classical tragedy with a Brooks Brothers wardrobe. Here's Merkin, a mostly good 'king' who oversteps and suffers the consequences. But with its clipped scenes and brisk, brash dialogue, Junk feels poised, and not always easily, between moral tragedy and popcorn thriller. And it can't quite make up its mind about the man at its center, a stance that seems intellectually honest and dramatically wimpy.
Junk History
Other Productions of Junk
| 2017 | Broadway |
Lincoln Center Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Junk - 2017 Broadway Awards and Nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Play | Junk |
| 2018 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Ben Stanton |
| 2018 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Ayad Akhtar |
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