A new play byAyad Akhtar
Directed byBartlett Sher

Beaumont Theater / Seating Chart / Directions

Running time: 1 hour and 40 minutes, no intermission
Recommended age: 16 years and older

Jacob McNeal (Academy Award® winner Robert Downey Jr.) is a great writer, one of our greatest, a perpetual candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. But McNeal also has an estranged son, a new novel, old axes to grind and an unhealthy fascination with Artificial Intelligence. Pulitzer Prize-winner Ayad Akhtar’s new play is a startling and wickedly smart examination of the inescapable humanity – and increasing inhumanity – of the stories we tell. Directed by Tony Award® winner Bartlett Sher.

Buy official tickets on Telecharge.com

Robert Downey Jr.


Go inside first rehearsal of McNEAL

McNEAL On the LCT Blog

  • Bartlett Sher on the Subtext of McNEAL

    Bartlett Sher on the Subtext of McNEAL

    "The play pursues the descent into tragedy – into Hell – of the title character, Jacob McNeal. That was the aspect that I immediately found interesting, compelling, dramatizable.”

  • Ayad Akhtar on McNeal, Shakespeare, and AI

    Ayad Akhtar on McNeal, Shakespeare, and AI

    “Theft,” said Akhtar, “is the great metaphor in the play. And not just in this McNeal’s particular story but regarding what the creative process is. Because you’re never free from influence when you create.”

Lincoln Center Theater gratefully acknowledges Lynne and Richard Pasculano’s visionary leadership support for McNEAL.

McNEAL is made possible in part by the generosity of Aura, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and by Dasha Epstein, whose gift is made in honor and admiration of Ayad Akhtar’s work. This play is also supported by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, and is a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. McNEAL evolved with support from the LCT Daryl Roth Play and Musical Theater Development Program and was commissioned through the generosity of Laura Speyer and Josef Goodman. 40th Anniversary Season support is provided by Denise Littlefield Sobel.