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Tom Stoppard's The Hard Problem Opens Off-Broadway

The new play is directed by Jack O’Brien.

Editorial Staff
Off-Broadway

The New York premiere of Tom Stoppard's The Hard Problem opened at Lincoln Center Theater's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater on November 19. Jack O'Brien directs.

The Hard Problem cast members Nina Grollman, Adelaide Clemens, and Karoline Xu.
The Hard Problem cast members Nina Grollman, Adelaide Clemens, and Karoline Xu.
(© 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.

Playwright Tom Stoppard with My Fair Lady's Rosemary Harris.
Playwright Tom Stoppard with My Fair Lady's Rosemary Harris.
(© Chasi Annexy)

The production features 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.

Baylen Thomas, John Patrick Doherty, Robert Petkoff, Jon Tenney, and Chris O'Shea star in The Hard Problem.
Baylen Thomas, John Patrick Doherty, Robert Petkoff, Jon Tenney, and Chris O'Shea star in The Hard Problem.
(© Chasi Annexy)

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.