Helmed by acclaimed director John Doyle, who won a Tony Award for his striking reimagining of Sweeney Todd, this stage adaptation of William Peter Blattys famous 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.
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 theaters 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 head to this spot.