The Amish Project Brings Jonathan Groff Back to Broadway at the Broadhurst in 2027

What is The Amish Project about?

The Amish Project was inspired by the 2006 shooting at a one-room Amish schoolhouse, according to Playbill. The play centers on a close-knit Amish community reeling from shock and grief, and on the extraordinary act of grace that follows.

The production describes the play as “a deeply moving solo play about the astonishing power of compassion in the face of unimaginable loss” and “an intimate portrait of a place and a community channeled through a single performer.”

Why is The Amish Project personal for Jonathan Groff?

Groff grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Playbill notes. “20 years ago this month, an unimaginable tragedy happened in a one room Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Jessica Dickey wrote an astounding work of art in response,” he said in a statement. “Sarna Lapine sent me The Amish Project last year and I was floored by the urgency and potent poetry of Jessica’s writing as she dives headfirst into the many aftershocks of this horrific event and explores the idea that sometimes the most radical human act is forgiveness. I am profoundly grateful to be bringing Jessica’s play to Broadway alongside Sarna and this incredible team.”

What do Jessica Dickey and Sarna Lapine say about the play?

Dickey said the play launched her writing career. “I wrote The Amish Project in the heartbreak of my twenties, grappling with how to make a meaningful life as an artist in a world capable of such violence,” she said. “To return to it now, all these years later, when its questions feel as urgent as ever, is profoundly moving.”

Lapine, whose credits include Sunday in the Park with George and Call Me Izzy, said: “When I first read Jessie’s play, I was blown away by it. She has channeled something extraordinary about a community, a community in mourning, a community in conversation.” She continued: “Like the framework of a well-built one-room schoolhouse, the writing is precise, lean, and strong, illuminating resilience in the face of fragility, and asks, how does one forgive the unforgivable?”

Where has The Amish Project been staged before?

The Amish Project debuted at the New York International Fringe Festival and was developed at the Cherry Lane Theatre before premiering Off-Broadway at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in 2009. It has since become Dickey’s most-produced play, with productions at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Milwaukee Rep, American Theater Company in Chicago and City Theatre in Pittsburgh, among others, according to the release. The release quotes The New York Times calling it “a remarkable piece of writing” and the Chicago Sun-Times calling it “a masterpiece.”

What has Jonathan Groff done since Merrily We Roll Along?

Groff most recently appeared on Broadway in Just in Time, the Bobby Darin biomusical in which he originated the role of Darin and earned a Tony nomination. Before that, he won the Tony Award for his performance in the 2023 revival of Merrily We Roll Along. His other Broadway credits include Hamilton and Spring Awakening, both of which brought him Tony nominations.

He recently made his Royal Shakespeare Company debut as Rosalind in an all-male production of As You Like It, directed by Daniel Evans, according to his biography in the release.

Who is producing The Amish Project on Broadway?

“There is nothing quite like experiencing the singular Jonathan Groff live, and his humanity, generosity and gift for storytelling make this a deeply transporting night of theater,” Ahrens and Kirdahy said. Live Wire Theatrical is the general manager, and the design team will be announced at a later date.