Amber Heard has been announced as part of the cast for Spirit of the People.
Amber Heard has been announced as part of the cast for Spirit of the People
The project is a departure for the actress into theatre as it’s a new play by Jeremy O. Harris set to premiere at the 2025 Williamstown Theatre Festival.
He said about the work: “I wanted to challenge myself.”
The 79th edition of the Massachusetts-based festival, which begins its summer run next year, will include Spirit of the People as a centrepiece.
The production is directed by Katina Medina Mora and will feature 38-year-old Amber alongside Brandon Flynn, 30, and Lío Mehiel, 33. Harris, 35, known for Slave Play and the film Zola, and is leading the festival’s new Creative Collective, a shared leadership model also comprised of model and actor Kaia Gerber, 23, producer Alyssa Reeder, entrepreneur Alex Stoclet and choreographer Christopher Rudd.
The play’s cast also includes Tony Award nominees Ato Blankson-Wood, 39, and James Cusati-Moyer, 35, as well as Amandla Jahava, Emma Ramos, Julian Sanchez, Zachary Booth and Tonatiuh.
Amber is best known for her work in Aquaman, Zombieland, Pineapple Express and the miniseries The Stand.
Brandon Flynn rose to prominence in 13 Reasons Why and recently appeared in the Off-Broadway production Kowalski.
Speaking to Variety in February, Jeremy Harris said he was inspired to reshape the festival model, adding: “The American festivals that work the best and that people are most thrilled by are our music festivals.
“They do a really good job of creating a sense of community. And that’s something that summer stock theatre has let slip over the last few decades.”
Spirit of the People, according to the official description, “confronts uncomfortable truths about land and what it means to destroy it”.
Jeremy also said the production marks a significant shift in his creative direction, adding: “The play is half in Spanish, and I don’t speak Spanish. The play has a significant level of prose within it. I’m not a prose writer. I’m trying a lot of different things.”
The rebranded festival, known as W71, will feature original and reimagined works spanning genres and disciplines.
Alongside Spirit of the People, audiences will see a revival of Tennessee Williams’ Camino Real and Not About Nightingales.
New works include The Things Around Us, a solo musical created and performed by Ahamefule J. Oluo, produced by Roya Amirsoleymani, and Many Happy Returns, a dance piece choreographed by Monica Bill Barnes and written with Robbie Saenz de Viteri.