Tony nominee Max Von Essen will lead the company of The Dreyfus Affair at BAM from April 27-May 7. The play by Eve Wolf chronicles the saga of Alfred Dreyfus, a French artillery officer who was wrongfully imprisoned in the late 19th century when he was accused of espionage. The scandal shook France and inspired Emile Zola to write some of his most powerful work, but his story hasn’t appeared onstage much before. We spoke with the actor about the timeliness of the piece, how he prepared to play the part, and how art is helping him cope with the current political climate. Why did you want to play Alfred Dreyfus? I wasn’t familiar with his story, and our director is so unbelievably knowledgeable about his life that as he explained to me more and more about this moment in French history and how anti-semitism played a part, it made me think of how we’re dealing with so many of these issues. The more he talked about the character the more I wanted for him to let me do it, and beyond the character, the way the piece is told is so beautiful. It’s very theatrical, musical, but it’s also its own kind of genre. So between the story and how they tell it, I had to do this. What research did you …Read more