Rachel Weisz-led Plenty announces final extension

The Public Theater has announced a final extension as well as a new official opening date for the first major New York revival of David Hare's Plenty, starring Oscar and Olivier Award winner Rachel Weisz and directed by five-time Tony nominee David Leveaux. Previews began at the Public's Newman Theater on 4 October 2016. The official opening has been moved from 20 October to 23 October and the limited engagement was originally scheduled to conclude on 6 November 2016, before an initial extension through to 20 November and now a final extension through to 1 December 2016.

Synopsis: "Plenty is the story of Susan Traherne (Weisz), a fiercely intelligent British secret agent flown into France during the Second World War. Susan's experiences among her war-time colleagues and over the two decades that follow are distilled in powerful scenes in this endlessly layered work about a woman of remarkable bravery, who cannot find in peacetime the values and relationships she cherished in war."

The cast of Plenty includes Rachel Weisz (Susan Traherne), Corey Stoll (Raymond Brock), Pun Bandhu (M. Aung), Ken Barnett (Codename Lazar), Emily Bergl (Alice Park), Dani De Waal (Louise), Mike Iveson (Another Frenchman), Byron Jennings (Leonard Darwin), LeRoy McClain (Mick), Tim Nicolai (John Begley), Paul Niebanck (Sir Andrew Charleson), Ann Sanders (Mme. Aung), Benjamin Thys (A Frenchman), and Liesel Allen Yeager (Dorcas).

The creative team features set design by Mike Britton, costume design by Jess Goldstein, lighting design by David Weiner, original music and sound design by David Van Tieghem, and hair & wig design by Leah J. Loukas.

Plenty originally premiered at The Public's Newman Theater in 1982, directed by Hare himself, and featured a cast which included Edward Herrmann, Kate Nelligan and Kelsey Grammer. The play then transferred to Broadway in 1983, picking up a total of 4 Tony nominations including Best Play. The 1985 film adaptation, directed by Fred Schepisi, received 2 BAFTA nominations (for John Gielgud and Tracey Ullman for their respective supporting roles). Other cast members included Meryl Streep, Sting, Ian McKellen, and Charles Dance.

Rachel Weisz made her Broadway debut, alongside husband Daniel Craig, in the 2013 revival of Harold Pinter's 'Betrayal.' She won an Olivier Award in 2010 for her performance as Blanche Dubois in a revival of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' at the Donmar Warehouse. Her other West End credits include 'Design for Living,' 'Suddenly Last Summer,' and 'The Shape of Things.' She won an Oscar and Golden Globe in 2006 for "The Constant Gardener" (along with a BAFTA nomination) and earned a Golden Globe nomination in 2013 for "The Deep Blue Sea." Other notable screen credits include "The Mummy" franchise, "Youth," "The Lobster," "Oz the Great and Powerful," "The Bourne Legacy," "The Lovely Bones," "The Fountain," "Constantine," and "About a Boy."

- by Tom Millward