Junk: The Golden Age of Debt is a 2016 play by Ayad Akhtar. It premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse in July 2016 and then on Broadway in 2017 and centers on a corporate takeover.
Described as a mix between a Shakespearean play and The Big Short, the play examines the point in American history when debt overtook value as the main route toward obtaining wealth.[1] Although the characters are fictionalized, they are based upon real-life financial figures from the 1980s such as Michael Milken and others.[2] [3]
Junk received a reading at the Vassar College Powerhouse Theater on June 26, 2015, directed by Doug Hughes.[4]
The play premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse (California) from July 26 to August 21, 2016, directed by Doug Hughes. [1]
The production opened on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on October 5, 2017 in previews, and officially opened on November 2, 2017.[5] The play closed on January 7, 2018 after 77 performances. The play was nominated for the 2018 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Broadway Play.[6] The play was nominated for the 2018 Tony Award for Best Play and Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a Play.[7]
| Role | La Jolla Playhouse (2016)[8] | Broadway (2017) |
|---|---|---|
| Amy Merkin | Annika Boras | Miriam Silverman |
| Giuseppi Addesso | Benjamin Burdick | Charlie Semine |
| Corrigan Wiley/Union Rep/Curt | Tony Carlin | |
| Robert Merkin | Josh Cooke | Steven Pasquale |
| Charlene Stewart | Zora Howard | Caroline Hewitt |
| Judy Chen | Jennifer Ikeda | Teresa Avia Lim |
| Murray Lefkowitz/Chen’s Lawyer | Jason Kravits | Ethan Phillips |
| Jacqueline Blount | Zakiya Iman Markland | Ito Aghayere |
| Boris Pronsky | Jeff Marlow | Joey Slotnick |
| Mark O’Hare/Merkin’s Lawyer/Union Worker | Sean McIntyre | Ted Koch |
| Leo Tresler | David Rasche | Michael Siberry |
| Israel Peterman | Matthew Rauch | |
| Raúl Rivera | Armando Riesco | Matthew Saldivar |
| Thomas Everson | Linus Roache | Rick Holmes |
| Devon Atkins/Waiter | Hunter Spangler | Nate Miller |
| Maximilien Cizik | Henry Stram | |
| Kevin Walsh | Keith Wallace | Phillip James Brannon |
Per the production’s official press release: “It's 1985. Robert Merkin, the resident genius of the upstart investment firm Sacker Lowell has just landed on the cover of Time Magazine. Hailed as "America's Alchemist," his proclamation that "debt is an asset" has propelled him to dizzying heights. Zealously promoting his belief in the near-sacred infallibility of markets, he is trying to re-shape the world.
JUNK is the story of Merkin's assault on American capitalism's holy of holies, the "deal of the decade," his attempt to takeover an iconic American manufacturing company and, in the process, to change all the rules. What Merkin sets in motion is nothing less than a financial civil war, pitting magnates against workers, lawyers against journalists, and ultimately, pitting every one against themselves.”