Prayer for the French Republic
Dates : October 30, 2024 — November 24, 2024
A new-play favorite on Broadway and 2024 Best Play Tony Award® Nominee, Joshua Harmon’s Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle award-winning epic family drama breaks open the global question “Where are we safe?”
October 30–November 24, 2024
Prayer for the French Republic
By Joshua Harmon
Directed by Hayley Finn
Run time: 3 hours including 2 intermissions.
2024 Best Play Tony Award® Nomination
Winner of the 2020 Trish Vradenburg New Jewish Play Prize
The Benhamou family has lived in Paris for five generations. A visit from their American cousin, Molly, is quickly overshadowed by an antisemitic attack on the family’s son, Daniel. The turmoil of the event awakens even the most dormant fears as each family member advocates for ways to move forward – or away. Just outside their window, the mounting pressure of Marine Le Pen’s extreme views winning over the populace shows no signs of waning.
As the family references the choices of generations before, time bends to bring the characters forward, echoing the same questions. Past and present play out simultaneously, revealing our questions have been here before, but the answers have yet to arrive.
A new-play favorite on Broadway and recipient of the inaugural Trish Vradenburg Jewish Play Prize, Joshua Harmon’s Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle award-winning epic family drama Prayer for the French Republic breaks open the global question “Where are we safe?”
About the Production
Irma Salomon
Young Pierre Salomon
Charles Banhamou
Molly
Adolphe Salomon and Pierre Salomon
Daniel Benhamou and Lucien Benhamou
Patrick Salomon
Marcelle Salomon Benhamou
Elodie Benhamou
*Appearing through an Agreement between this theater, Theater J, and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
Director: Hayley Finn**
Scenic Designer: Misha Kachman⁺
Costume Designer: Danielle Preston⁺
Lighting Designer: Colin K. Bills⁺
Sound Designer: Sarah O’Halloran⁺
Properties Artisan: Pamela Weiner
Properties Assistant: Aiden Galbraith
NY Casting Director: Elizabeth Hay
Casting Director: Kate Poms
Production Dramaturg: Charlotte La Nasa
Assistant Director: Tyler Herman
Intimacy Choreographer: Sierra Young
Dialect Coach: Katie McDonald
Production Stage Manager: Anthony O. Bullock*
Assistant Stage Manager: Hansin Arvind
Assistant Stage Manager: Jordyn Fields
*Appearing through an Agreement between this theater, Theater J, and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
**The Director is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), a national theatrical labor union.
+Member of United Scenic Artists Local 829
Ann Gilbert
Bonnie and Alan Hammerschlag
Sherry Nevins
Paul and Zena Mason
Les Silverman
Stuart Sotsky
Manny Strauss and Betsy Karmin
Joan S. Wessel
Christopher Wolf and James Beller
Judy and Leo Zickler
Creative Connections and Special Performances
Join us for powerful pre and post-show conversations with expert guests to deep dive the themes of Prayer for the French Republic
Creative Connections events are free and open to the public.
We are piloting a new caption system and will be offering open captioning for three performances.
Theater J offers Pay-What-You-Choose performances for the first two previews of each show. You can buy tickets online or in person. For this show our PWYC performances are on the following dates:
Wednesday, October 30 at 7:00 PM and Thursday, October 31 at 7:00 PM.
Pre-show conversations are a highly participatory event! Before you head to your theater seat, stop by the 16th Street Lobby for an introduction to the play from Theater J’s Education Programs Manager Hester Kamin. This will be a lively discussion about the issues, themes, and questions raised in Harmon’s play.
Join us after the play for an interview with Dr. Lauren B. Strauss to unpack the events and themes of Prayer for the French Republic. Drawing from her extensive research on Jewish history and Politics at home and abroad, Dr. Strauss will contextualize what we glean about the Jewish experience in democratic society from Harmon’s play. This conversation with take place in the Goldman Theater immediately following the performance.
We will offer captions on the following performances:
Thursday, November 14 at 7:00 PM, Sunday, November 17 at 1:00 PM, and Saturday, November 23 at 7:00 PM. To access captions, you can reserve a tablet before the show by calling the box office or pick up a tablet the day of. For more information you can email or call the box office.
Join Allison Kahn-Pauli, Associate Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League in Polinger Meeting Room, for a briefing on antisemitism from a national and global perspective.
Artistic Director Hayley Finn will lead a post-show conversation in the theater with the cast around themes from the show.
Schedule
Your Name Means Dream
Out of Character
The Berlin Diaries
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