DC Theatre Welcomes a Wave of Talent for Swept Away at Arena Stage

The Mead Center for American Theater's Arena Stage has announced the primary cast of its fall/winter 2023 show, Swept Away. Coming together again from the 2022 Berkeley Repertory Theatre world premiere and appearing for the first time at Arena Stage, the cast for Swept Away includes Tony Award winner John Gallagher, Jr. (Spring Awakening), Tony Award nominee Stark Sands (Kinky Boots), Adrian Blake Enscoe (Dickinson), and Wayne Duvall (O Brother, Where Art Thou?).

Arena Stage Executive Producer and President of the Corporation, Edgar Dobie, stated, "One of our favorite things at Arena Stage is finding new artists and audiences for the stories we are blessed to help tell. Swept Away allows us to offer a welcoming embrace to The Avett Brothers and a whole new group of friends to share what we all know to be true: musical storytelling at its best."

The show, crafted by Tony Award recipient John Logan (Red, Moulin Rouge! The Musical) and brought to life under the direction of Tony Award winner Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening, American Idiot), boasts music and lyrics by "America's Biggest Roots Band" (Rolling Stone) The Avett Brothers. Swept Away is scheduled to be showcased in the Kreeger Theater from November 25 through December 30, 2023. 

Scott Avett from The Avett Brothers expressed, "I am beyond thrilled that Johnny, Stark, Adrian, and Wayne are returning to Swept Away for our East Coast premiere at Arena Stage. Washington, D.C., audiences will have the opportunity to experience their profound performances in this very special event."

Swept Away at Arena Stage in DC 

Swept Away is a captivating narrative set in 1888. It revolves around four survivors - a young man on a quest for adventure, his protective older brother, a veteran sea captain nearing the end of his career, and a once-respected first mate who has fallen from grace - who find themselves in peril when a violent storm sinks their whaling vessel off the coast of New Bedford, Massachusetts. As the tale unfolds, it poses the question: How far will they push themselves to stay alive, and can they bear the weight of their actions? Drawing from the music and lyrics of The Avett Brothers, whose 2004 "Mignonette" was motivated by an 1884 shipwreck and the men's struggle to survive, Swept Away is an enthralling new musical that examines how hardship can pave the way to forgiveness... if only we'll let it.