The Brooklyn Academy of Music will present a revival of Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window starring Golden Globe winners Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan. Obie and Lortel winner Anne Kauffman (The Thugs, Mary Jane) will direct the work, set to begin previews in the Harvey Theater February 4, 2023 ahead of a February 23 opening night.
Brosnahan and Isaac star as Iris Brustein and Sidney Brustein, respectively. Set in 1960s Greenwich Village, Hansberry paints a portrait of the couple's marriage, and their progressive circle of friends whose ideals do not always match reality. Will those ideals, which Sidney clings to, cost the couple their marriage? The seldom-seen work debuted on Broadway in 1964. BAM's production will be its first major New York revival under the direction of Kauffman, who previously directed the work at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in 2016.
Known for playing Miriam "Midge" Maisel in Amazon Prime's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Brosnahan (Dead for a Dollar) has previously starred Off-Broadway in New York Theatre Workshop's 2016 Othello as Desdemon. She also starred in Roundabout's 2013 Broadway revival of The Big Knife as Dixie Evans.
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Isaac (Moon Knight, Scenes from a Marriage) has also appeared Off-Broadway in The Public's 2017 Hamlet, as well as their Free Shakespeare in the Park productions of Romeo and Juliet and Two Gentlemen of Verona. At Manhattan Theatre Club, he starred in We Live Here and Beauty of the Father.
Full casting and the creative team will be announced at a later date.
“During the five years I spent working to produce the first Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun (in 2004), I fell in love with The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window,” says BAM Artistic Director David Binder in a statement. “I shared this passion for Lorraine’s play with Anne, and the two of us spent many, many years working together to mount the show in New York. It’s an honor to present Lorraine’s beautiful, and rarely seen, play, finally, at BAM.”
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“We are in dire need of Hansberry’s voice...we know so little of her, and define her by one play: A Raisin in the Sun. Without a doubt, Raisin is a masterpiece, but Hansberry’s evolution and contribution to this country's culture, history and political motion stretches way beyond that astonishing accomplishment," adds Kauffman. "Her work as an artist and activist is varied and deep. The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, written four years after A Raisin in the Sun, embraces human complexity and frailty while aggressively shaking us free of our delusions, yet very few people know of it. Now they’ll know.”
Tickets will go on sale October 11 for BAM members and patrons, with sale to the general public beginning October 21.
BAM will also create in-person and online experiences about Hansberry, including talks, an exhibit in the Harvey Theater lobby curated by BAM’s archivist Sharon Lehner, and online educational tools.
For tickets and more information, visit BAM.org.
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