Junk

It’s 1985. Robert Merkin, the resident genius of the upstart investment firm Sacker Lowell, has just landed on the cover of Time magazine. Hailed as “America’s alchemist,” his proclamation that “debt is an asset” has propelled him to dizzying heights. Zealously promoting his belief in the near-sacred infallibility of markets, he’s trying to reshape the world.

Junk is the story of Merkin’s attempt to take over an iconic American manufacturing company and, in the process, change all the rules. What Merkin sets in motion is nothing less than a financial civil war, pitting magnates against workers, lawyers against journalists, and ultimately, people against themselves.

The playwright behind this no-holds-barred portrait of Wall Street at its most powerful and dangerous is Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar. Tony winner Doug Hughes (Doubt) directs a cast led by Steven Pasquale (The Bridges of Madison County). The sets are by John Lee Beatty, the costumes by Catherine Zuber, the lighting by Ben Stanton, and the original music and sound by Mark Bennett.