A Letter from the Artistic Director

Dear Friend of the Next,

“As the saying goes, we don’t get out of this life alive—and neither will the Earth. Around 5 billion years from now, give or take, the sun will expand into a red giant, absorbing all the inner planets into its fiery womb…. Crucial to us still here on Earth, right now, is whether we humans can make it through what many scientists call this planet’s latest great extinction—make it through, and bring the rest of Life with us rather than tear it down.” The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

The other day I went to see District 9, a movie about what happens 20 years after aliens crash land on Earth and are forced into a “concentration camp” of sorts. The movie was fascinating, but what struck me as more amazing was the fact that of the 10 previews they showed before the movie, more than half dealt with the end of the world in one form or another (the other half were vampire movies, a genre which has its own Armageddon sensibility about it). As I’ve looked at plays for future production at Next, literally dozens I’ve read deal with post-apocalyptic themes, dystopian visions of the future and/or scenarios where mankind is imperiled in one way or another.

So what is going on in our world?

Has the combined effect of the millennium’s arrival, the destruction of the Twin Towers, nearly a decade of war (we launched the invasion of Afghanistan on October 7, 2001) and the virtual collapse of the global economy driven our creative community to collective despair? Artists both respond to the mood that surrounds them and also drive the discussion, moving our thoughts and ideas forward. And our artists are struggling to do that, capturing both the hope and optimism that defines “the American spirit” and the fear of impending doom that lurks beneath the surface.

boom is the perfect blend of those two extremes. Our two young characters embody head and heart, hope and fear, schism and reconciliation. It begins our journey into the 2009/10 Season, a journey that will explore our role in the world, not as Americans, but as human beings who share the same dreams, ideals, hopes and aspirations. And who face the same challenges, whether they live in Chicago in 2009, New York in 2001 or Israel in 1967. The good news is that some of our artists are exploring these ideas with a hopeful heart and an optimistic look into the future. Some, like up-and-coming author Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, recognize a good way to reach out to those of us feeling a little overwhelmed by the current mood is through comedy, and boom is one of the best I’ve read.

I hope you will join me for the start of this journey and continue the dialogue with me for the next nine months by subscribing to our season and seeing all five plays. These are plays that will entertain and make you laugh, but also give you plenty of opportunity to reflect and renew your commitment to the world.

I look forward to seeing you at boom.

All my best,

Jason Southerland
Artistic Director

Blending Biology and Theater
Playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb on how long-pondered questions of geological proportion make it into his ultra-contemporary plays

What Happens to the Earth When We Are Gone?
A surprisingly hopeful look at our planet’s recovery and reclamation from Alan Weisman’s bestseller, The World Without Us

In boom, Jo and Jules are safely underground when a comet hits the Earth, destroying the constructs of civilization and leaving them as the only likely human survivors. Alternately, Alan Weisman projects what might happen above ground if humans suddenly disappeared without such a disturbance to the industrial footprint we would leave behind.
www.worldwithoutus.com/did_you_know.html

boom Artists

Director Jason Southerland is an award-winning director and producer who joined Next Theatre Company in December after a decade as the founding Artistic Director of Boston Theatre Works. During his time at BTW, the company produced twelve world premieres and developed over sixty scripts through commissions, development agreements and BTW Unbound, an annual festival of new plays. As a director, Jason has staged several award-winning productions for BTW including the New England premieres of Homebody/Kabul, Not About Nightingales, Angels in America: Parts I & II and The Laramie Project. Other notable regional premieres at BTW include Pulp, The Sweetest Swing in Baseball, Four Baboons Adoring the Sun and I Am My Own Wife. Jason also spent five years in New York City, where he worked with BACA Downtown, Circle Rep Laboratory, Lehman/Engel BMI Workshop, Alice's Fourth Floor and the Sanford Meisner Theatre. Additionally, he directed the world premiere of Love Kills, by frequent collaborator Kyle Jarrow, at the 45th Street Theater in New York in September, 2007. Regional work includes Gloucester Stage Company, Foothills Theatre, Diversionary Theatre, Stoneham Theatre, Albuquerque CLO and the University of Kent at Canterbury. Jason studied directing at the American Repertory Theatre/Harvard University Institute for Advanced Theatre Training. He has served as production assistant and/or assistant director for Julianne Boyd, Jerry Zaks, Hal Prince, Des McAnuff, Oskar Eustis, Christopher Ashley and many others. He holds a B.A. cum laude in political science from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a two-time winner of the Joe Hardy Directing Fellowship, received a Drama League Fellowship, was honored with an Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Direction for his 2008 production of Angels in America and was chosen by Boston magazine as #4 on their list of the "40 Bostonians to Watch."

Playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb is a San Francisco-based playwright whose works include boom, Hunter Gatherers, Colorado, T.I.C. (Trenchcoat In Common), and Multiplex. His work has been seen off-Broadway and across the country at Ars Nova, SPF, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Seattle Repertory, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cleveland Public Theatre, Brown/Trinity Playwrights Rep, the Bailiwick Theatre, Wellfleet Harbor Actor’s Theatre, Dad’s Garage, and in the Bay Area at Encore Theatre, Killing My Lobster, The Magic Theatre, Impact Theatre, and The Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Hunter Gatherers received the 2007 American Theatre Critics Association/Steinberg New Play Award for best new play to premiere outside of New York and the 2007 Will Glickman Prize for best new play in the Bay Area. He is under commission from South Coast Rep and is a Resident Playwright at the Playwrights Foundation, San Francisco. Peter holds a degree in Theater and Biology from Brown and an MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. He likes to promote himself online at www.peternachtrieb.com.

Actor Shannon Hoag appears as the quirky museum curator, Barbara. She is a long-time member of Strawdog Theatre Company, and was seen earlier this year in their productions of Red Noses, directed by Matt Hawkins and Cherry Orchard, directed by Kimberly Senior. Previous Strawdog credits include: Aristocrats, A Lie of the Mind, Marathon ’33 (Jeff Award – Best Ensemble), Impossible Marriage, Detective Story (Jeff Award- Best Production 2003, Best Ensemble) and many more. A graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University, she also completed studies at The National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, The Moscow Art Theatre and The London Academy of Theater. After boom, Shannon will be appearing next in Uncle Vanya at Strawdog Theatre Company, directed by Kimberly Senior. This is her first appearance with Next Theatre.

 

 

 

Actor Kelly O’Sullivan plays the role of Jo, a journalism student who leads with her heart. Kelly’s credits include Honest, Good Boys and True, The Crucible, and 100 Saints You Should Know (Steppenwolf Theatre), The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Northlight Theatre), Jon (Collaboraction, remounted at Theatre on the Lake), The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (American Theater Co.), Hot ‘n Throbbing (Pine Box Theatre), The Glory of Living (Profiles Theatre), and Mr. Marmalade (Dog & Pony Theatre, Jeff Nomination for Principal Actress in a Play), as well as staged readings and workshops with The Goodman, TimeLine, Chicago Dramatists, and Rivendell Theatres. Kelly is a graduate of Northwestern University and The School at Steppenwolf. This is her first appearance with Next Theatre.

 

 

 

 

 

Actor John Stokvis appears as marine biology grad student Jules, who sees a future in his fish. John’s previous Chicago credits include Horses at the Window (Trap Door Theatre), Feydeau-si-Deau (Theatre Wit), and The 23rd Annual Young Playwrights Festival (Pegasus Players). He has also performed as both an actor and a clown with other Chicago companies, including, but not limited to, Collaboraction, Stage Left, and The Midnight Circus. For more info, visit www.johnstokvis.com. This is his first appearance with Next Theatre.

 

 

The production team includes Set Designer Andre LaSalle, Costume Designer Chelsea Warren, Lighting Designer Seth E. Reinick, Sound Designer Nathan Leigh, and Stage Manager: Nancy Staiger*.