Marilu Henner and Shannon Purser on going head-to-head in 'The Ask' off Broadway

Written by Matthew Freeman, the new drama showcases the Taxi and Stranger Things stars in a generational battle of wills over politics and philanthropy.

Summary

• Marilu Henner and Shannon Purser star in The Ask off Broadway at Theater 555 from October 6 to November 22
• The play centers on a confrontation between a longtime ACLU donor and a young fundraiser over politics and philanthrophy
• Henner and Purser discuss the play's themes of generational unity and division, the humor woven into the tension, and their offstage bond
• Playwright Matthew Freeman also discuss his real-life fundraising experiences that inform the play

Five-time Golden Globe Award nominee Marilu Henner is ready for a showdown as she returns to the stage in The Ask, a new Off-Broadway play starting October 6 at Theater 555. Known to millions for her iconic television roles on the Emmy-winning sitcoms Taxi and Evening Shade, as well as her Broadway performances in musicals like Chicago and Grease, the star is now sinking her teeth into a more intimate two-hander.

The Ask centers on a tense donor meeting inside a luxe Upper West Side apartment. Playwright Matthew Freeman brings more than a decade of his own experience as an ACLU fundraiser to the script, crafting a battle of wills between Greta (Henner), a wealthy progressive donor, and Tanner (Stranger Things Emmy nominee Shannon Purser, in her New York stage debut), the young, nonbinary ACLU fundraiser sent to secure a massive gift. While the premise hinges on a financial exchange, Henner believes the heart of the story goes deeper.

“It’s not just a play about money,” Henner said. “It’s about different generations. It’s about people who might think they’re on the same side, but once they come together, they drift apart.”

A lifelong liberal, Greta feels alienated by the ACLU’s shifting priorities, taking issue with its broad economic campaigns and use of gender-neutral language. For Henner, tapping into the character meant finding the vulnerability beneath Greta’s fierce pushback as she leverages a staggering sum to force the organization back to its roots. Her approach involved “finding the humanity in suddenly feeling like, 'Wait, I don’t matter anymore? This is my favorite organization I’ve given so much money to and supported so much over the years.'”

Despite its heavy themes (the play is set against the backdrop of the Supreme Court's Dobbs ruling, which overturned Roe v. Wade in late 2022), the script lets Henner flex her comedic chops, too. “I saw so many things Greta says in the piece that aren’t funny in an obvious way,” Henner said. “That kind of character always interests me, and she’s like the women I grew up with. So I just fell in love with her.”

Purser also highlighted the humor woven into the confrontation. “You’re going to get a lot of the laughter of recognition,” Purser said. “People sitting in the audience saying, 'Oh my gosh, I said that. My son said that. My daughter says that.'”

Purser's character allows her to be "very detailed and thoughtful,” she added: Tanner is tasked with maintaining a polite, professional facade and suppressing their internal frustrations with an unyielding donor. Freeman drew from his own 500-plus meetings as a nonprofit fundraiser to write this experience authentically.

“One of the conversations that happens at the ACLU and in any nonprofit is about how to navigate the power dynamics, inherent in any conversation about money, between the person who has the money and the person who’s hoping to receive that money,” Freeman said.

By setting the clash between two individuals who nominally occupy the same side of the political spectrum, Freeman and director Jessi D. Hill create a distinct kind of tension. “When people are arguing with someone on their side, there’s always that hope that you’ll get through to them, that the bridge can be built,” Freeman said.

In real life, Henner and Purser quickly bonded in the rehearsal room. “Marilu is a genius, objectively and sincerely,” Purser said. “I always feel like I’m learning something from her. She pushes me to be more honest as the character, to be even more present than I usually like to be.”

Henner echoed the sentiment, praising the immediate connection she and Purser formed. “I just adore her already,” Henner said. “It’s a really powerful thing to work with somebody you’re not only learning to trust, but have a gut instinct you can trust.”

The easy offstage dynamic and the challenging, resonant script make The Ask a thrill for Henner. “I feel so grateful at this time in my career to have something so fabulous to work on,” she said. “I had a high school English teacher who told me, 'I want your papers so concise that if I threw water on them, they’d expand to 10 times their size.' That’s what I’m finding with this piece, probably more than any other play I’ve ever done.”

Get The Ask tickets now.

Photo credit: Marilu Henner and Shannon Purser in rehearsals for The Ask. (Photos by Eran Zelixon)