Blood and Gifts: complete cast announced

The full cast has been announced for the Lincoln Center Theater's upcoming production of J.T. Rogers new play Blood And Gifts, opening at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater on 21 Nov 2011, following previews from 27 Oct 2011.

Directed by Bartlett Sher, Blood And Gifts will feature Michael Aronov>, Jeremy Davidson, Robert Hogan, Jefferson Mays, Andrés Munar, Paul Niebanck, John Procaccino, Liv Rooth, Gabriel Ruiz, Pej Vahdat, Andrew Weems and Bernard White.

The creative team is still to be announced.

Commissioned by Lincoln Center Theater, and presented this past fall in London at the National Theatre, Blood And Gifts tells the story of the secret spy war behind the official Soviet-Afghan War of the 1980s. Spanning a decade and playing out in Washington DC, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, the play follows CIA operative Jim Warnock as he struggles to stop the Soviet Army's destruction of Afghanistan.

The ground constantly shifts for Jim and his counterparts in the KGB and British and Pakistani secret service as the political and personal alliances between the men keeps changing. And as the outcome of the entire Cold War comes into play, Jim and a larger-than-life Afghan warlord find the only person they can trust is each other.

Blood And Gifts tells the story of the unknown men who shaped one of the greatest historical events of recent history, the repercussions of which continue to shape our world.

Bios:

Michael Aronov. Off-Broadway credits: 'Spain,' 'Miss Julis' and 'The Late Henry Moss.' TV: "Burn Notice," "The Closer," "Blue Bloods," "White Collar," "Life on Mars," "Lipstick Jungle," "Without a Trace" and "All My Children."

Jeremy Davidson. Broadway: 'Epic Proportions.' Off-Broadway: 'Back Back Back' and 'La Terrasse.' TV: "Pan Am," "Brothers & Sisters," "White Collar," "Army Wives," "The Kill Point," "Drift," "Boston Legal," "Without A Trace," "Hate," "The Practice," "Jag," "Century City," "Crossing Jordan," "NYPD Blue" and "Rosewell."

Robert Hogan. Broadway: 'Hamlet' and 'A Few Good Men.' Off-Broadway credits include: 'Abraham Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party,' 'Mourning Becomes Electra,' 'The Accomplices,' 'Boy' and 'What Didn't Happen.' Film:" Welcome to Academia," "Universal Signs," "Day Zero," "Sweetland," "Maze," "Species II" and "Lady in Red." TV: "Law & Order," "Alice," "Barnaby Jones," "Petticoat Affair" and "Peyton Place."

Jefferson Mays. Broadway: 'Pygmalion,' 'Journey's End' and 'I Am My Own Wife' (Tony Award). Off-Broadway: 'Measure for Measure,' 'I Am My Own Wife' (Lucille Lortel Award), 'Lydie Breeze, Parts I & II,' 'Culture of Desire' and 'Quills.' Film: "Le mystère," "Memoirs of My Nervous Illness ," "The Notorious Bettie Page," "Alfie" and "Kinsey." TV: "Liberty! The American Revolution," "The American Experience," "God in America," "Detroit 1-8-7" and "Mildred Pierce."

AndreS Munar. Off-Broadway: "Light Raise the Roof." TV: "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Law & Order" and "Queens Supreme."

Paul Niebanck. Broadway: 'In The Next Room or the vibrator play.' Off-Broadway: "Bill W. and Dr. Bob," "Great Expectations," "All's Well That Ends Well," "Shockheaded Peter" and "Svejk." Film: "Insects with Glasses ." TV: "Gossip Girl" and "Burn Notice."

John Procaccino. Broadway: 'A Thousand Clowns' and 'Conversations with My Father.' Off-Broadway: 'Coming of Age in Soho.' Film: 'Joyful Partaking,' 'Farewell to Harry,' 'Norville and Trudy,' 'Assassins' and 'Magic in the Water.' TV: 'Rose Red,' 'Law & Order,' 'NYPD Blue' and 'Northern Exposure.'

Liv Rooth. Broadway: 'Born Yesterday.' TV: "The Good Wife."

Gabriel Ruiz. Broadway: 'In the Heights.' Film: "Bqe."

Pej Vahdat Film: "Groupie" and "Juan Frances: Live." TV: "Bones," "Grey's Anatomy," "Shameless," "NCIS: Los Angeles" and "Hawthorne."

Andrew Weems. Broadway: 'Born Yesterday,' 'Inherit the Wind,' 'The Green Bird' and 'London Assurance.' Off-Broadway: 'The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter,' 'Bach at Leipzig,' 'Cymbeline' (Lucille Lortel Nomination), 'Troilus and Cressida' and 'The Green Bird.' Film: "The Killing Floor," "Sorry, Haters" and "Nowhere to Go But Up." TV: "Conviction," "Hope & Faith," "Law & Order," "Third Watch" and "Spin City."

Bernard White. Off-Broadway: 'Landscape of the Body' and 'The Death of Garcia Lorca.' Film: "It's Kind of a Funny Story ," "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," "Quarantine," "The World Unseen" and "Pain Within." TV: "Santa Barbara," "Knots Landing," "Dragnet," "JAG" and "The Defenders."

J.T. Rogers (Playwright) is the author of the play 'The Overwhelming' (produced in New York by the Roundabout Theater Company and in London at the National Theatre, in association with Out of Joint), 'Madagascar,' 'White People,'' Murmuring in a Dead Tongue' and 'Seeing the Elephant' which was nominated for the Kesselring Prize for Best New American Play. An earlier version of Blood And Gifts was presented as part of a cycle of 11 plays about Afghanistan titled 'The Great Game: Afghanistan' at the Tricycle Theatre in London.

Bartlett Sher (Director), Resident Director at Lincoln Center Theater, directed the LCT productions of 'Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,' Joe Turner's 'Come and Gone' (Tony nomination), 'South Pacific' (Tony Award), 'Awake and Sing!' (Tony nomination) and 'The Light in the Piazza' (Tony nomination). Former Artistic Director of Seattle's Intiman Theater, his other NY credits include productions at Playwrights Horizons and Theatre for a New Audience. His opera credits include the MET productions of 'The Barber of Seville,' 'The Tales of Hoffman' and the current 'Comte d'Ory.'