Two guys in their 30s meet-up at a cafe to discuss music, poetry and such in an alley behind a coffee shop in Vermont. One of them dropped out of college. The other is writing a novel. A high school student who works the coffee shop shows-up and the three guys talk. Could be a casual conversation anywhere, but it’s called The Aliens and onstage and it’s written by Annie Baker. (She also wrote the Circle Mirror Variations.)
The play debuted just over half a decade ago. It finds a cozy and appropriate Bay View home this coming May as Jake Brockman directs a staging of the play at the Alchemist Theatre. The intimate, little theatre with its own bar should work quite well as an alley on the east coast half a decade ago that might as well be now. Evan Koepnick and Claudio Paronne Jr. play the two guys (characters who used to be in a band called The Aliens.) Koepnick comes to the production having recently put-in a really memorable performance as the nice guy in Theater RED’s production of Bachelorette. Claudio Paronne Jr. comes to the production having just co-starred in the Alchemist’s staging of The Dumb Waiter. Emerging new actor Ryan Krueger plays the high school kid.
A casual social play like this that is allegedly has a lot of awkward pauses written into the script should work brilliantly in the cozy space of the Alchemist Theatre. Grab a beer and hang out with a couple of guy in Bay View who used to be in The Aliens. Haven’t heard of The Aliens? That’s okay, they’re just as fictional as the two guys who are talking about them. This sounds like a fun show for the edge of summer.
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The Aliens runs May 26 - Jun. 11 at the Alchemist Theatre on 2569 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. For more information, when it becomes available, visit Alchemist Theatre online.
