Lincoln Center Theater presents by J.T. Rogers Blood And Gifts

The Lincoln Center Theater is to present a new play by J.T. Rogers, Blood And Gifts, directed by Bartlett Sher, opening at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater on 21 Nov 2011, following previews from 27 Oct 2011.

The cast and creative team for Blood And Gifts will be announced at a later date.

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. J.T. Rogers 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, 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.'