The Public Theater

"ELEGANT AND HAUNTING.  A bold, bravura turn by Mandy Patinkin, as fraught as Rinne Groff's play and undeniably compelling."  - Adam Feldman, Time Out New York

"Groff, a tremendously witty and intelligent writer whose intellect can sometimes outpace itself, is probing and picking at some major pieties of identity politics." - Scott Brown, New York Magazine

"GRIPPING.  All of the acting is exceptional.  Patinkin brilliantly captures Silver's self-inflicted torment. Raw and painfully real, it's another high point in a career filled with superlatives."  - Roma Torre, NY1

"Directed with stylish simplicity by Oskar Eustis, the play admirably balances the heroic and irrational qualities of its central character.  Mr. Patinkin is a natural choice for Silver. He nails both his character's aggressive, show-biz-style charm and his pathological anger." - Ben Brantley, The New York Times

"A modern tragedy that offers a unique angle on the story of the Holocaust's most well-known victim."  - Matt Windman, AM NY

"Oskar Eustis, the artistic director of the Public, has pulled from his actors wonderful performances." - Mark Kennedy, Associated Press

COMPULSION
World Premiere Production
By Rinne Groff
Directed by Oskar Eustis
A co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Yale Repertory Theatre
Featuring Hannah Cabell, Matte Osian and Mandy Patinkin

February 1 - March 13

It is 1951 and Sid Silver is on a mission to be the guardian of one of the most moving and provocative accounts of the 20th century. Deeply moved by Anne Frank's diary, he is driven to bring her story to the American masses by promoting the book's publication and adapting the diary into a work of theater. Inspired by the story of Meyer Levin, COMPULSION brings playwright Rinne Groff and The Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis (The Ruby Sunrise) together again with a complex and inventive telling that is part historical fiction, part investigation into what makes a man obsess, and part exploration of an untold dimension of Anne Frank's powerful and enduring legacy.