The Emmy and Tony winner calls the show a major challenge, with an ending he says audiences won't expect
PEOPLE has an exclusive first look at the Emmy and Tony winner in The Unknown, a provocative new one-man play that begins performances on Saturday, Jan. 31, at Studio Seaview in New York City.
In the production, Hayes plays Elliott, a writer grappling with creative paralysis who retreats to a remote cabin, only to find the line between imagination and reality dangerously blurred.
"[My characters] get stalked by an actor I didn't cast in one of my shows," Hayes explained of the play's plot, earlier this month on Late Night with Seth Meyers. "What happens is a very tantalizing, seductive game of cat and mouse. And that's kind of all you can say, literally, because if you say anything else it'll give it all away."
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The show is a striking departure for Hayes, who ultimately takes on 10 different characters over the course of the show. The solo show leans into psychological suspense, asking the audience to follow Elliott as obsession, fear and creativity begin to overlap.
It's a provocative thriller that explores the fine line between fascination and obsession. And in the newly released production photos, that tension is clear.
Hayes, 55, appears alone onstage, shifting between stark stillness and tightly wound intensity as the story closes in around him. The images -- by celebrity photographer Emilio Madrid -- suggest a man unraveling in isolation, with lighting and shadow doing as much storytelling as the actor himself as Elliott questions whether he's writing a thriller -- or living one.
Written by David Cale and directed by Leigh Silverman, The Unknown officially opens Feb. 12 and runs through April 12.
The limited engagement production features scenic design by Studio Bent, costumes by Sarah Laux, lighting by Cha See, sound design by Caroline Eng and music by Isobel Waller-Bridge.
Hayes most recently won the leading actor Tony in 2023 for his portrayal of American pianist and composer Oscar Levant Good Night, Oscar. He was previously nominated for his Broadway debut in 2010's Promises, Promises, and also led the 2016 play, An Act of God.
That play was practically a solo show, though Hayes teased to Seth Meyers that playing multiple characters on The Unknown is far more difficult.
"I didn't take the easy route, I took the harder route," he said. "We rehearse every day and I just started doing the run-through from the top to the bottom and I'm go, 'That had to be four and a half hours long.' And she's like, 'No, it was an hour and a ten minutes.' I was like, 'What?!' It feels like climbing a mountain every time!"
He went on to say that he was drawn to the show because it had "an ending you will never see coming."
"It's crazy. It's so clever," Hayes noted. "It's such a challenge to lose yourself as an audience member into the storytelling of wether's it's me ore not me, of one person playing all these different characters. I can't wait for people to see it. I mean, I may be brilliant, I may suck -- who knows! But to see the story unfold is just riveting."
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