Show Finder

A Soldier’s Play

First Preview: Dec 27, 2019
Opening Date: Dec 27, 2019
Closing Date: Mar 15, 2020
Running Time: 01:50
A Soldier’s Play

Share on Social Media

Playing @
Todd Haimes Theatre
227 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036
Under the direction of Governor Andrew Cuomo, Broadway shows in New York City will suspend all performances immediately in support of the health and well-being of the theatregoing public, as well as those who work in the theatre industry. Performances will commence the week of April 13, 2020. 


1944. A black Sergeant is murdered on a Louisiana Army base, and one tenacious investigator must race against his white leadership to unravel the crime before they unravel him. 

A hair-raising drama that reverberates with the “authentic and exciting pulse”  (New York Times) of mystery, Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece rockets onto Broadway for the first time, starring three-time Tony nominee David Alan Grier and Golden Globe nominee Blair Underwood.

“I think America needs to hear the newness and the freshness of this play.” - director Kenny Leon 
BroadwayPlay - Drama
Show Notes: 1 Intermission
Age Guidance: 15

Performance Schedule

TUESDAY thru SATURDAY @ 8 PM
WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY @ 2 PM
SUNDAY @ 3 PM


Written By
  • Charles Fuller

Director
  • Kenny Leon

TDF Tickets Offers:

TDF Member tickets:

Not currently available for this show

Listed at

Never

Full-price tickets:

$59.00 - $299.00

Video

Reviews

  • It might be a pleasure to report that Charles Fuller’s A Soldier’s Play, which is set in 1943-44 and deals with “the madness of race in America,” has reached the point where the play falls into the category of treasured period piece. No such luck. The drama premiered at the Negro Ensemble Company in 1981 and was handed the Pulitzer Prize in 1982. The first-rate Roundabout Theatre Company revival, opening as the fourth (and final?) year of the Trump administration begins, is every bit as pertinent as its debut was then—perhaps, given the divisiveness now afflicting the country, even more so.
  • As directed by Kenny Leon in its first Broadway production, however, the play is sturdy instead of creaky: Like the bare wood of Derek McLane’s set, it gets the job done, and it provides a platform for powerful moments and performances. The steel-jawed Blair Underwood, sympathetic yet commanding, provides a stoic axis for the production; Davenport, often wearing sunglasses, keeps his cool, even when his rank unsettles his white colleagues and subordinates. (Jerry O’Connell, playing a conflicted white captain, looks like he’s about to burst a blood vessel throughout.) David Alan Grier is Underwood’s equal and opposite: He brings rage and pathos to the role of the cruel Waters, “split by the madness of race in America,” who is twisted with contempt for other black men—especially Southern ones—whom he considers an embarrassment to the race.
  • The last few years have seen an explosion of formally and thematically bold work by African American dramatists addressing race-related issues from stinging contemporary perspectives — playwrights like Dominique Morisseau, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Jeremy O. Harris, Robert O'Hara, Aleshea Harris and Antoinette Nwandu, just for starters. So the belated arrival on Broadway of Charles Fuller's 1982 Pulitzer Prize winner, A Soldier's Play, risks looking like a throwback to more old-fashioned, conventional drama. Yet in the hands of director Kenny Leon and a terrific ensemble, this period piece about corrosive self-loathing bred out of institutionalized racism remains powerful theater.
  • It might be a pleasure to report that Charles Fuller’s A Soldier’s Play, which is set in 1943-44 and deals with “the madness of race in America,” has reached the point where the play falls into the category of treasured period piece. No such luck. The drama premiered at the Negro Ensemble Company in 1981 and was handed the Pulitzer Prize in 1982. The first-rate Roundabout Theatre Company revival, opening as the fourth (and final?) year of the Trump administration begins, is every bit as pertinent as its debut was then—perhaps, given the divisiveness now afflicting the country, even more so.

Accessibility

  • Wheelchair Info

    Designated, flexible wheelchair seating area behind the last row of the center orchestra and the last row of the mezzanine
  • Seating

    Seats 740. Orchestra, 1st floor; Mezzanine, 2nd and 3rd Floor; 5th floor Penthouse lobby open to the public. 4th floor private. Lower lobby main public facilities and lounge.
  • Entrance

    Primary entrance from street, through double doors into outer lobby with box office, through double doors into main lobby, through 2 sets of double doors (each 31") into Orchestra.
  • Box Office

    227 West 42nd St between 7th and 8th Avenues. Hours: 10am - 8pm: Tuesday through Saturday. 10am - 6pm Sunday and Monday. The box office closes at 6pm on any evening with no performance.
  • Restroom

    Accessible restrooms on Orchestra level only
  • Telephone

    There is a secure cell phone charging station on the 5th floor, reachable by elevator. The station is complimentary to use but requires a credit card to “unlock” devices. The station is 69” high.
  • Assisted Listening System

    Assisted listening devices available: Infrared headsets free at coatcheck. A photo ID is required to check out a headset.
  • Elevator/Escalator

    Elevators are available to all levels of the theatre.
  • Folding Armrests

    Six (6) seats are available with folding armrests.
  • Parking

    An Icon parking garage is located at 250 west 43rd between Broadway and 8th Avenue.
  • Water Fountain

    Several accessible water fountains are located throughout the theatre, all reachable by elevator.

TDF Social Feed

TDF
TDF1 week ago
TDF's ticketing system is down for an upgrade. We will be up and running shortly.
tdfnyc2 weeks ago
CATS: The Jellicle Ball co-director Zhailon Levingston shared what he hopes audiences take away from the production during Pride Month and beyond. “If you can’t find this kind of queer...
tdfnyc2 weeks ago
Lucky 15–that’s how many Broadway shows are currently on TDF! Act quickly—show availability changes frequently, and tickets can go fast. Visit TDF to see all 15 shows currently on membership.
tdfnyc2 weeks ago
Words of wisdom from Tony-winner Joshua Henry! “What is for you cannot pass you by.” #broadway #tonyawards #joshuahenry
tdfnyc2 weeks ago
“The win was just getting to do it.” After winning her first Tony Award, Caissie Levy reflected on why being part of the Broadway community has always felt like a...
tdfnyc2 weeks ago
Tony-winner Ali Louis Bourzgui on the importance of using his platform for activism. “My activism only comes from being an empathetic person, which is what you need as an artist.”...
TDF
TDF2 weeks ago

Thanks so much for sharing the Tony Awards with us tonight! The biggest surprise may be what a fantastic host P!NK was (though we never doubted her... yet others did)....

TDF
TDF2 weeks ago
And Schmigadoon wins Best Musical!
TDF
TDF2 weeks ago
And an award that was essentially a given: Joshua Henry as Best Actor in a Musical for his gorgeous performance in Ragtime.
TDF
TDF2 weeks ago
Ragtime is picking up some big awards! Caissie Levy just won for Best Actress in a Musical. Maybe they'll extend (again)?
TDF
TDF2 weeks ago
So glad The Book of Mormon had a moment to celebrate its 15th anniversary on Broadway, especially after that awful fire. Gives new meaning to the show much go on!
TDF
TDF2 weeks ago
Death of a Salesman wins Best Revival of a Play. Amazing it's been revived on Broadway twice SINCE the pandemic. And such incredibly different productions.
TDF
TDF2 weeks ago
I suspect every musical-loving adolescent will be begging for The Lost Boys tickets after that number!!
TDF
TDF2 weeks ago
Alden Ehrenreich wins for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his Broadway debut in Becky Shaw. I will ALWAYS be #TeamMax!!!
TDF
TDF2 weeks ago
A lovely in memoriam.
TDF
TDF2 weeks ago
Ragtime wins Best Revival of a Musical!
TDF
TDF2 weeks ago

Lesley Manville finished Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the National Theatre in London yesterday and won a Tony Award for Oedipus today! And for her Broadway debut (though she's a stage...

tdfnyc3 weeks ago
The Tony Awards aren’t the only place to catch this year’s nominees this weekend! Before Broadway’s biggest night, stream performances featuring several Tony nominees, including @fullyrosebyrne and @kelliohara in Fallen...
tdfnyc3 weeks ago
Looking for your next great theatre outing? We’ve rounded up 14 Off Broadway shows you won’t want to miss this June. Highlights include @nycitycenter’s La Cage aux Folles starring...
tdfnyc4 weeks ago
“You never know when you’re gonna inspire someone or change someone’s life.” At the Drama Desk Awards, artists got real about why access to theatre matters — for empathy, for...
tdfnyc4 weeks ago
From Tuesday, May 26 to Sunday, June 7 (aka Tony Awards Sunday), TDF Members are fast-tracked at TKTS Times Square. See Tony-nominated shows up to 50% off before Broadway’s biggest night. Just present your...
tdfnyc1 month ago
New York’s outdoor theatre season is officially here —and Shakespeare in the Park is just one of many incredible options. From The Classical Theatre of Harlem and the Battery Dance...
tdfnyc1 month ago
In summer 2025, The Public Theater unveiled its gorgeous renovation of the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. In addition to making the venue more accessible to folks with mobility challenges,...
tdfnyc1 month ago
We’ve rounded up 10 great shows to see for $40 or less this May. Catch a new play from the acclaimed Clubbed Thumb, an immersive musical in a Brooklyn home,...