Bartlett Sher to Direct J.T. Rogers' CORRUPTION at Lincoln Center Theater

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Bartlett-Sher-to-Direct-JT-Rogers-CORRUPTION-at-Lincoln-Center-Theater-20231109

Lincoln Center Theater will present CORRUPTION, a new play by J.T. Rogers, directed by Bartlett Sher. CORRUPTION will begin previews Thursday, February 15, 2024, and open on Monday, March 11, 2024, at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (150 West 65 Street).

Based on the book Dial M for Murdoch: News Corporation and The Corruption of Britain by Tom Watson and Martin Hickman, CORRUPTION tells the story behind the story of the phone hacking scandal that engulfed Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in 2011, stunning the world and upending British politics. When Parliament member Tom Watson is maliciously smeared by the newspapers of Murdoch’s News International, he decides to fight back - taking on its larger-than-life leader Rebekah Brooks. But what he uncovers is far more insidious than he ever imagined. As Watson and a small band of journalists, lawyers, and politicians struggle to expose the endemic criminality at the heart of this media monolith, they risk their careers and, at times, their very lives. Epic in scope and often startlingly funny, CORRUPTION tells a true-life David and Goliath story of ordinary men and women trying to find a way to save their democracy before it’s too late.

CORRUPTION will have sets by Michael Yeargan, costumes by Jennifer Moeller, lighting by Donald Holder, sound by Justin Ellington, and projections by 59 Productions/Benjamin Pearcy and Brad Peterson. Theresa Flanagan will be the Stage Manager. Casting will be announced at a later date.

I dozed off reading the description. Just what new audiences are clamoring for -- yet another play about British politics.

At first I was confused because of Vanya but then I realized this will be a Newhouse production.

Updated On: 11/10/23 at 10:14 AM

Member onsale for "Corruption" Jan 9, 10am. Member ticket prices $62 for performances through March 10, then $72 March 12 and after.

No info on non-member pricing.

blaxx said: "Why is LCT so in love with Sher's stuffy stagings?"

Sher is a Resident Director there and has directed their only big hits of the past 20 years.

J.T. Walsh has had multiple plays produced there and has a longtime partnership with Sher. They're probably a package deal.

Andre Bishop makes the artistic decisions and is about as stuffy as human beings come.

Updated On: 12/25/23 at 09:34 PM

Still no update on when public tickets go on sale for this?

amiyagi said: "Still no update on when public tickets go on sale for this?"

LCT website now indicates public onsale Friday, Jan 12 at noon.

Really weird this is happening when a pretty notable play about all of this was produced by the National Theater about ten years ago written by Richard Bean and starring Billie Piper



feels very dated at this point

Anyone see it yet?

TarHeelAlan said: "Broadway Flash said: "Anyone see it yet?"

That would be difficult. First preview is 2 days away on Feb 20."



Not the case. Performances started earlier this week.

Bump

I saw this last week and agree the script is meeeeeeessssyyyy. The cast are all talented but where they play multiple characters and the character types are all similar types (lots of politicians and journalists) it takes you a while to get the hang of when who is playing who.

I also found the staging to be distracting and clumsy. As we left I asked my friend if he enjoyed watching three hours of Local 1 moving Ikea tables behind actors every 5 minutes. They have to cover a lot of locations so I understand wanting to create spaces but seriously the moving of tables 3ft this way and that constantly grew tiring.

Dreamboy3 said: "I really enjoyed this but it isn’t on par with Oslo. The acting was great (with one major exception) and while there was a lot of stagehands moving tables around I thought the direction was great. With all of the actors playing multiple roles and lots of short scenes the list of cues must be astronomically long. It’s very entertaining but l left this wondering if it was telling anything that we didn’t already know. "

I saw this the other day and generally liked it. The moving around of tables definitely got old after a while. Curious who you thought the weak link was? I thought the actors were all wonderful (a pretty great ensemble) but the lead female was just not good. Her stagecraft compared to the others was horrific. It looks like they brought her over from the UK? Not sure why.