Tom Hanks To Star Off-Broadway in Play He Co-Wrote, ‘This World of Tomorrow’

Tom Hanks is buying and selling in his film scripts for stage cues this fall, making a uncommon return to dwell theater with a brand new play he co-wrote — and plans to star in — referred to as This World of Tomorrow.

Set to premiere Oct. 30 for an eight-week restricted run at The Shed in New York Metropolis that wraps Dec. 21, the Off-Broadway manufacturing, per a launch, blends romance and historical past with a touch of science fiction. The story follows a lonely scientist from the longer term who travels again in time to the 1939 World’s Honest in Queens seeking love.

Hanks, a two-time Oscar winner, will lead a forged of 10 to 12 actors — some taking over a number of roles — within the 550-seat theater on the arts middle on Manhattan’s West Facet.

It is the primary stage function Hanks has had since his 2013 Broadway debut within the newsroom drama, Fortunate Man. That function earned him a Tony Award nomination.

“To discover the themes of affection and craving, and the struggles of At this time as we supply with us the everlasting reminiscences of the Previous, in such a spot as The Shed, strikes me as a one-of-a-kind expertise not not like the World’s Honest of 1939,” Hanks stated in an announcement.

The actor wrote This World of Tomorrow alongside James Glossman, with whom he beforehand collaborated on 2022’s Protected Dwelling, a stage piece additionally primarily based on tales from Hanks’s 2017 e book Unusual Sort. He is been working with Shed to develop the play over the previous 12 months.

Tony-winning Director Kenny Leon will helm the brand new manufacturing.

“I am excited to collaborate with the exceptional Tom Hanks on his and James Glossman’s new play at The Shed this fall,” Leon stated. “Will probably be a pleasure to expertise Tom main the forged on stage on this time-traveling journey of the limitless energy of affection and the gap one is prepared to go for it. This story explores an interesting story of the echoes of previous generations, the often-surprising collisions between them, and what’s carried ahead with an genuine humor I can’t wait to convey to life within the Griffin Theater.”

Alex Poots, inventive director at The Shed, advised the New York Times that Hanks’s staff reached out final 12 months about growing the venture on the venue. He didn’t hesitate.

“He’s one of the beloved and trusted storytellers of our time,” Poots stated to the outlet, calling the play “a basic love story” that additionally nods to the worldwide unrest brewing in 1939.

The present joins a busy upcoming season at The Shed, which additionally consists of Viola’s Room, an immersive audio expertise narrated by Helena Bonham Carter and created by the individuals behind Sleep No Extra (June 17–Oct. 19), and a revival of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brothers Dimension starring André Holland (Aug. 30–Sept. 28).

Tickets to This World of Tomorrow go on sale on July 24. Shed member presale begins on July 15.