“Eclipsed,” the stage play written by “The Walking Dead’s” Danai Gurira and starring Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, will head to Broadway in the spring of 2016, the play’s producers announced Tuesday.
The play recently enjoyed a sold-out run at The Public Theater, which extended twice and will end its run on Nov. 29. Nyong’o will reprise her role on Broadway for a strictly limited engagement.
The production takes place amid the chaos of the Liberian Civil War, during which the captive wives of a rebel officer band together to form a fragile community, until the balance of their lives is upset by the arrival of a new girl.
“What’s equally impressive about her powerhouse portrayal in ‘Eclipsed’ is how Nyong’o handles moments of extended silence and joy,” Paul Hoffler wrote in his review of the play for TheWrap. “Even Nyong’o’s seeming non-response to brutally losing her virginity makes a major statement.”
Nyong’o won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in 2012’s “Twelve Years a Slave.” She will next appear in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
Guirra is best known for playing the samurai sword-wielding Michonne on “The Walking Dead,” but she is also an award-winning playwright and stage actress. She won the Obie Award in 2009 for her play “In the Continuum.” She debuted on Broadway in 2009 in “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.”
“Eclipsed” is produced on Broadway by Stephen Byrd, Alia Jones-Harvey, Paula Marie Black, Willette Klausner, Carole Shorenstein Hays and The Public Theater. South African born Liesl Tommy will return as director.
Previews are set to begin on Broadway on Feb. 23 prior to an official opening night on March 6 at the Golden Theatre. Tickets for the Broadway engagement will go on sale on Oct. 20 for a Citibank presale through 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, October 27. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Nov. 2.