'Pass Over' starts performances tonight, as the first play to reopen Broadway

'Pass Over' is at the August Wilson Theatre from August 4 - October 10.

The Broadway premiere of Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu's Pass Over will begin performances at the August Wilson Theatre tonight. In doing so, Pass Over will make history as the first Broadway play to open after the pandemic. Pass Over begins previews at the August Wilson Theatre from August 4, with an opening night now on August 22 and performances to October 10. Pass Over tickets are on sale now.

The opening night of Pass Over has been moved up by three weeks. Originally scheduled for September 12, the Pass Over opening night is now on August 22.

Pass Over follows two men, Moses and Kitch, as they stand for hours at a street corner and praying that a miracle will come their way. The world premiere of Pass Over was at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago in 2017, and was later updated the following year for performances at Lincoln Center Theater.

Pass Over is inspired by Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot and the story of Exodus. But for each production, the play's script is updated to reflect contemporary issues. The original cast from the 2018 Lincoln Center Theater production will star in Pass Over on Broadway. The cast includes Jon Michael Hill, Namir Smallwood and Gabriel Ebert.

In a 2018 review of Pass Over for New York Theatre Guide, Tulis McCall said: "Pass Over puts us on notice that we are all contributing a verse either by commission or omission." 

Danya Taymor will direct Pass Over, with a reunited creative team from the 2018 Lincoln Center production including scenic design by Wilson Chin, costume design by Sarafina Bush, lighting design by Marcus Doshi, and sound design by Justin Ellington.

Pass Over is the first Broadway play to reopen after the pandemic. For all performances of Pass Over, the cast, crew, theatre staff and audience members must be fully vaccinated. In order for audience members to enter the auditorium, they must prove a full Covid-19 vaccination. Guests who are unvaccinated must provide proof of a negative Covid-19 PCR test within 72 hours of performance time, or a negative Covid-19 antigen test within 6 hours of performance time. Find out more about vaccine requirements on Broadway here. 

Pass Over is at the August Wilson Theatre from August 4 - October 10.

Pass Over tickets are on sale now.

^{Photo credit: Pass Over in 2018 (Photo by Jeremy Daniel)}

^{Article Updated: 12 August 2021}