‘Prayer for the French Republic’ Moves to Broadway

Joshua Harmon’s “Prayer for the French Republic,” a play about a family grappling with contemporary and historical anti-Semitism in France, will hit Broadway this winter.

The play is produced by the non-profit Manhattan Theater Club, which premiered the play Off Broadway last year. The production is directed by David Cromer, who also directed Off Broadway; it will be staged at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater, with previews starting December 19 and opening scheduled for January 9.

Casting has not been announced.

The production comes as concerns about anti-Semitism rise in the United States and beyond. Last season, there were two shows about anti-Semitism – the play ‘Leopoldstadt’, about a Viennese family before, during and after the Holocaust, and the musical ‘Parade’, about the lynching of a Jewish businessman in Georgia – both of which are the top contenders for Tony Awards this spring.

“Prayer for the French Republic” will be Harmon’s second Broadway play; his gripping stag comedy ‘Significant Other’ was shown at the Booth Theater in 2017. But Harmon is probably best known for another comedy, “Bad Jews,” which was widely performed across the country.

The play has a relatively large cast—MTC listed a troupe of 16 actors Off Broadway—and a three-hour run, making it expensive to produce on Broadway at a time when many theater nonprofits are struggling financially. This production is funded in part by the Roy Cockrum Foundation, founded by a Powerball-winning theater enthusiast that supports ambitious non-profit work.

Also this week, MTC announced that it has appointed a new executive director, Chris Jennings, to succeed outgoing executive producer Barry Grove. Jennings is currently the executive director of the Shakespeare Theater Company in Washington. He will work with MTC’s Artistic Director, Lynne Meadow, who celebrated her 50th anniversary with the company last year.