Directed by Rick Lombardo**
Acclaimed American playwright Michael Weller, author of Broadway’s MOONCHILDREN, LOOSE ENDS, and SPOILS OF WAR, as well as the film adaptations of HAIR and the Academy Award-nominated RAGTIME, brings this World Premiere comedy to New Rep’s stage.
A comic drama on the negotiation of life in a Post-9/11 world, APPROACHING MOOMTAJ takes place four months after the tragic events. We are introduced to Walker Dance, an aggressive and highly-successful consultant living with his family in Brooklyn. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, Walker begins to reevaluate his upper middle class family existence and marriage. After a visit from his eccentric, slacker half-brother, Wylie (and his mysterious but forbidden computer), Walker is led on a virtual adventure through the looking glass to the outrageous, seductive, and dangerous Kingdom of Moomtaj. This humorous and poignant World Premiere explores how tragic world events affect the lives of everyday people and the choices we make on the way to personal and spiritual fulfillment. APPROACHING MOOMTAJ asks the question “what is the way to true bliss?”
Photo: Jacob Aaron Brandt and Robert Prescott. Photo by Richard Feldman