BROOKE SHIELDS AND RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN
TAKE THE STAGE FOR JOHN PIELMEIER’S
WORLD PREMIERE ADAPTATION
OF THE EXORCIST
Tony Award Winning Director John Doyle’s Acclaimed Design Team Includes
Creative Consultant Teller and Spiritual Composer Sir John Tavener
Opening Night July 11, 2012
LOS ANGELES, June 7, 2012 — Stage and screen stars Brooke Shields and Richard Chamberlain take on the iconic roles of Chris MacNeil and Father Merrin in playwright John Pielmeier’s world premiere adaptation of The Exorcist at the Geffen Playhouse. Helmed by acclaimed director John Doyle, who won a Tony Award for his striking reimagining of Sweeney Todd, this stage adaptation of William Peter Blatty’sfamous 1971 novel transforms the unsettling battles of good versus evil, faith versus fact and ego versus ethos into a uniquely theatrical experience as sophisticated as it is suspenseful.
Joining Shields and Chamberlain on stage is Broadway actor David Wilson Barnes (The Lieutenant of Inishmore) as the troubled young priest Father Damien Karras, Tony Award nominee and Geffen alum Harry Groener (Equivocation) as Chris’ charismatic director Burke Dennings and UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television graduate Emily Yetter as young Regan MacNeil. The world premiere cast also includes Stephen Bogardus,Manoel Felciano, Tom Nelis and Roslyn Ruff. (Full biographical information on all cast members is available at the bottom of the release.)
In addition to the accomplished cast, The Exorcistshowcases an award-winning design team – including world-renowned creative consultant Teller (the quiet half of the world-famous duo Penn & Teller) and internationally acclaimed spiritual composer Sir John Tavener– to bring Pielmeier’s script and Doyle’s vision to life on stage. The team also includes Tony Award winning scenic/costume designer Scott Pask, lighting designer Jane Cox and sound designer Dan Moses Schreier. Working with Doyle, the design team will be tasked with creating a theatrical experience that engages the senses in a way that is unique to live performance.
“The story of the battle between faith and evil needed no spinning heads or green vomit,” said playwright John Pielmeier, who is most well-known for the award-winning play/screenplay Agnes of God and the acclaimed miniseries The Pillars of the Earth. “The horror should unfold instead on a simple set with an incredible cast (which we absolutely have), and the central conflict between doubting Father Karras and the demon should be a series of debates, in which the young girl possessed is the least of the figures present.”
The Exorcist begins in previews in the Gil Cates Theater at the Geffen Playhouse on July 3, 2012 and officially opens on Wednesday, July 11, 2012. Special events during the run of The Exorcist include the theater’s Signature Series performances for no additional cost. These evenings include an intellectual, thought-provoking post show Q&A at Talk Back Tuesdays; a scintillating, one-of-a kind after-party at Girls Night Out; a cultural happy hour with Lounge Fridays and complimentary wine tastings during Wine Down Sundays. For more information, please view www.geffenplayhouse.com/exorcistevents.
The Exorcist
A play by John Pielmeier
Adapted from the novel by William Peter Blatty
Directed by John Doyle
Preview Performances: Tuesday, July 3 – Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Opening Night: Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Closing Night: Sunday, August 12, 2012
Cast
David Wilson Barnes Father Damien Karras
Stephen Bogardus Dr. Strong
Richard Chamberlain Father Merrin
Manoel Felciano Father Joe
Harry Groener Burke Dennings
Tom Nelis Dr. Klein
Roslyn Ruff Carla
Brooke Shields Chris MacNeil
Emily Yetter Regan MacNeil
Production Credits
Scenic & Costume Designer Scott Pask
Lighting Designer Jane Cox
Sound Designer Dan Moses