Adam Driver will jump from a galaxy far, far away to gritty 1980s New York in a Broadway revival of Lanford Wilson’s 1987 drama “Burn This,” producer David Binder announced Thursday.
Driver, a three-time Emmy nominee for “Girls” who reprises his role as the villainous Kylo Ren in this week’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” plans a return to the Great White Way sometime in 2019.
Tony winner Michael Mayer (“Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” “Spring Awakening”) will direct.
“Burn This” follows four New Yorkers whose lives are uprooted by a young dancer’s accidental death. Driver will play the dangerous, raw and demanding Pale, whose tempestuous relationship with the modern dancer Anna drives much of the action.
John Malkovich originated the role of Pale in the original Broadway production, which ran for more than a year — 437 performances in all.
The role of Anna, which won Joan Allen a Tony Award in 1988, has yet to be cast.
In addition to his work in “The Last Jedi,” Driver also starred this year in “Logan Lucky” opposite Channing Tatum. His upcoming film roles include Spike Lee’s “The Black Klansman,” and Terry Gilliam’s “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.”
His Broadway credits include a 2010 revival of “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” with Cherry Jones and a 2011 revival of “Man and Boy” opposite Frank Langella.
In 2008, the former U.S. Marine founded Arts in the Armed Forces, a nonprofit dedicated bringing live stage performance to active-duty and veteran members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families.