Ayad Akhtar's Junk begins previews on Broadway tonight

Steven Pasquale stars as Robert Merkin at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater.

Pulitzer Prize Winner Ayad Akhtar's latest drama Junk, directed by Doug Hughes, begins previews at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater tonight, before an official opening on November 2 and a limited engagement through to January 7, 2018.

Synopsis: "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 is trying to re-shape the world. Junk is the story of Merkin's assault on American capitalism's holy of holies, the 'deal of the decade,' his attempt to takeover an iconic American manufacturing company and, in the process, to 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, pitting every one against themselves. Set over thirty years ago, this is a play about how, while most of us weren't watching, money became the only thing of real value."

Broadway favorite Steven Pasquale leads the cast as Robert Merkin, alongside Ito Aghayere, Phillip James Brannon, Tony Carlin, Caroline Hewitt, Rick Holmes, Ted Koch, Teresa Avia Lim, Danny Mastrogiorgio, Nate Miller, Ethan Phillips, Matthew Rauch, Matthew Saldivar, Michael Siberry, Miriam Silverman, Joey Slotnick and Henry Stram.

The creative behind Junk features scenic design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by Catherine Zuber, lighting design by Ben Stanton, and sound design & original music by Mark Bennett.

The world premiere of Junk was staged last July at the La Jolla Playhouse in California.

LCT previously collaborated with Ayad Akhtar, presenting his 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning play 'Disgraced', which transfered to Broadway and earned a Tony nomination in 2015. LCT also produced Akhtar's 'The Who & the What' and his off-Broadway production of 'The Invisible Hand' won an Obie Award in 2015.

Junk is produced on Broadway by Lincoln Center Theater in association with The Araca Group.