Sorkin returns to Broadway

“West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin’s new play “The Farnsworth Invention” -- the filmmaker’s first stage play since his 1989 New York hit, “A Few Good Men” -- will open on Broadway this year.

An exploration of the controversial story behind the invention of television, “Farnsworth” was originally commissioned by Dublin’s Abbey Theater and developed at the La Jolla Playhouse under departing artistic director Des McAnuff, who will direct the New York production for Dodger Theatricals (“Jersey Boys”). “I’m incredibly excited about this play, and it’s great to have Sorkin back on Broadway,” McAnuff said Friday. Though venue and dates are still to be set, McAnuff confirmed that the show will open this fall at a Shubert-owned theater.

As reported earlier by Variety, filmmaker Steven Spielberg is expected to be a limited partner in the production. “There will be other co-producers, and Steven Spielberg will probably be one of them,” a spokesman for Dodger Theatricals said Friday, “but we don’t know what the billing for the production will be yet.”

-- Lynne Heffley