play Broadway Closed

The Road to Mecca

Roundabout Theatre Company

Dec 16, 2011 - Mar 4, 2012 (Op. Jan 17)

Tony®, Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award–winner Rosemary Harris (The Royal Family, Roundabout’s All Over) returns to Roundabout alongside the remarkable Carla Gugino (“Entourage,” Roundabout's After the Fall) and Tony winner Jim Dale (Barnum, Roundabout’s The Threepenny Opera) in this celebrated work from preeminent South African playwright and Lifetime Achievement Tony winner Athol Fugard (Roundabout’s “MASTER HAROLD”…and the boys). Acclaimed as “striking, compassionate and Fugard's most personal play” by The New York Times, The Road to Mecca tells the story of an eccentric elderly artist facing mounting pressure to abandon her independent life for a church retirement home. Out of desperation, she calls upon her only confidant, a fiery young teacher from Cape Town. When the village minister arrives to coax out her decision, the three enter a blazing showdown that pits conformity against free expression… faith in community against faith in oneself. Set against the charged backdrop of South African apartheid, The Road to Mecca is a beautifully crafted tribute to the artist’s indomitable spirit. Gordon Edelstein (Roundabout's The Glass Menagerie) directs.