NYTW's casts for Nat Turner in Jerusalem & Othello

New York Theatre Workshop has released casting news for the first two productions of its 2016-2017 season.

The season kicks off with Nathan Alan Davis's drama Nat Turner in Jerusalem, which begins previews on 7 September 2016, before an official opening on 26 September and a limited engagement through to 16 October 2016.

Directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian, the cast features Phillip James Brannon (Nat Turner) and Rowan Vickers (Thomas R. Gray).

Synopsis: "In August 1831, Nat Turner led a slave uprising that shook the conscience of the nation. Turner's startling account of his prophecy and the insurrection was recorded and published by attorney Thomas R. Gray. This timely new play imagines Turner's final night in a jail cell in Jerusalem, Virginia, as he is revisited by Gray and they reckon with what has passed and what the dawn will bring. Woven with vivid imagery and indelible lyricism, Nat Turner in Jerusalem examines the power of an individual's resolute convictions and their seismic reverberations through time."

The creative team fetures scenic design by Susan Zeeman Rogers, costume design by Montana Blanco, lighting design by Mary Louise Geiger, sound design by Nathan Leigh, fight direction by Thomas Schall, and dialect coaching by Dawn Elin-Fraser.

Next up in the New York Theatre Workshop 2016-2017 season is the previously announced new production of William Shakespeare's tragedy Othello, directed by Tony winner Sam Gold.

Joining previously announced "007" star and Emmy & BAFTA nominee Daniel Craig (Iago) and "Selma" star and Golden Globe, Emmy & BAFTA nominee David Oyelowo (Othello) will be (in alphabetical order) David Wilson Barnes (The Duke/Ludovico), Marsha Stephanie Blake (Emilia), Rachel Brosnahan (Desdemona), Blake DeLong (Soldier), Glenn Fitzgerald (Brabantio), Slate Holmgren (Montano), Anthony Michael Lopez (Soldier), Matthew Maher (Roderigo), Nikki Massoud (Bianca), Kyle Vincent Terry (Soldier) and Finn Wittrock (Cassio).

The creative team behind Othello features scenic design by Andrew Lieberman, costume design by David Zinn, lighting design by Jane Cox, sound design by Bray Poor, and fight direction by Thomas Schall.

Exact dates for the production will be announced shortly.

Daniel Craig last appeared on the New York stage in the 2013-14 Broadway revival of Harold Pinter's 'Betrayal.' He made his Broadway debut in the 2009 production of 'A Steady Rain.' He is best known for his current role as James Bond and has starred in the following 007 movies: "Casino Royale," "Quantum of Solace," "Skyfall," and "Spectre." His other notable screen credits include "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn," "Cowboys & Aliens," "The Golden Compass," and "Road to Perdition."

David Oyelowo previously appeared in the 2007 off-Broadway production of 'Prometheus Bound.' He is perhaps best known for his Golden Globe-nominated performance as Martin Luther King Jr. in "Selma." His other notable screen credits include "Interstellar," "Jack Reacher," "A Most Violent Year," "Nightingale," "The Butler," "Lincoln," "The Help," "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," and "Small Island."