The much-anticipated and critically-acclaimed Broadway play Room, which has already premiered to effusive praise in multiple marquee cities internationally, has been abruptly postponed indefinitely.
Room, was reportedly beset with insurmountable setbacks, including a “shortfall in capitalization” and “the withdrawal of a lead producer” according to leading industry publication Playbill.
The play was originally scheduled to debut in April 2023 and run through September at the iconic James Earl Jones Theater within the vaunted Theater District of Manhattan in New York.
The play producers had pegged Tony Award-winning actress Adrienne Warren to star in the gripping play with Cora Bissett picked to helm the production as the director.
“In the midst of our rehearsals, we were informed by one of our lead producers that due to personal reasons, they did not intend to fulfill their obligations to the production. Since being notified, the rest of the producing team has exhausted all possible avenues to keep the show on track, but the narrow timeline and economic shortfall created by this series of events has proven to be insurmountable,” said producer Hunter Arnold. “We are incredibly disappointed not to be able to open this remarkable production at this time and are especially heartbroken for our incredibly talented cast and creative team who were hard at work in the rehearsal room.”
Room centers around Emma Donoghue’s 2010 best-selling novel of the same name. A mother and her six-year-old son were kidnapped and forced to exist in a single room for seven years, meaning that her child has never been exposed to the outside world.
The multifaceted Warren, an actress, singer and dancer, imbued electricity into the production after capturing the Tony Award for her riveting portrayal of Tina Turner in the play Tina. She also starred in The Wiz, and Dreamgirls on stage and just portrayed a warrior in the 2022 drama The Woman King opposite Viola Davis.
Warren says she loves the traumatizing yet ultimately uplifting story from Donoghue’s novel.
“The play is about the way in which we can sometimes be imprisoned by situations in our lives. How do we overcome them? Survival in itself is something that is to be honored and to be appreciated, when you are able to take one step and put it in front of another,” Warren said. “That’s what I love about this piece. There’s so much hope in it.”
Producers Sam Julyan and James Yeoburn believe the Room will be resurrected.
“We have been honored to share the story of Room since its world premiere in 2017 in London and its subsequent productions in Dublin, Scotland, and Ontario. We truly believe that today’s disappointing news will not be the end of Room on stage.”
