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Tom Stoppard's The Hard Problem Begins Rehearsals

The Lincoln Center Theater production begins performances October 25 under the direction of Jack O’Brien.

Jason Zednick
Off-Broadway
The company of Lincoln Center Theater's The Hard Problem gather for the first day of rehearsals.
The company of Lincoln Center Theater's The Hard Problem gather for the first day of rehearsals.
(© Chasi Annexy)

Reherasals have begun for Lincoln Center Theater's upcoming New York premiere of Tom Stoppard's The Hard Problem, directed by Jack O'Brien. With performances set to begin Thursday, October 25, opening night is Monday, November 19, at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater.

Director Jack O'Brien and playwright Tom Stoppard lead rehearsals of The Hard Problem.
Director Jack O'Brien and playwright Tom Stoppard lead rehearsals of The Hard Problem.
(© Chasi Annexy)

In The Hard Problem, Hilary is a young psychology researcher at the Krohl Institute for Brain Science, where psychology and biology meet. If there is nothing but matter, what is consciousness? This is "the hard problem" facing science, and for Hilary, the possibility of genuine altruism, without a hidden Darwinian self-interest, depends on the answer. Meanwhile, she is nursing a private sorrow. She needs a miracle and is prepared to pray for one.

The production will feature Eshan Bay, Adelaide Clemens, John Patrick Doherty, Nina Grollman, Katie Beth Hall, Eleanor Handley, Olivia Hebert, Sagar Kiran, Chris O'Shea, Madeleine Pace, Robert Petkoff, Tara Summers, Jon Tenney, Baylen Thomas, Kim N. Wong, and Karoline Xu.

The Hard Problem will have sets by David Rockwell, costumes by Catherine Zuber, lighting by Japhy Weideman, sound by Marc Salzberg, and original music by Bob James.