Image via Next Act Theatre
Three Viewings - Next Act Theatre
On Thursday, Sept. 23, Next Act Theatre will welcome audiences to its first live production since February 2020. The show is Three Viewings by Jeffrey Hatcher, a play composed of three solo performances set in a funeral home, each monologue wonderfully twisted and affecting, and the combination meaningful. Next Act staged it back in 1997, which deepens the feeling of reconnection; as does the well-known artist company: Ed Morgan is directing actors Cassandra Bissell, Carrie Hitchcock and Next Act founder and artistic director David Cecsarini.
Cecsarini offers another reason for choosing this play to reopen: “A monologue is really getting back to basics: an actor, an author’s story and an audience. I think there’s something nicely elegant in that arrangement, worthy of our audience’s first return to live performance.”
Safety is a further reason. “Monologues offer safer conditions in rehearsal. They also appear safer to an audience,” he noted. The better to relax and enjoy.
Next Act will require audiences, artists, volunteers and staff to be vaccinated and masked. Performances will be held at 50% capacity. Improved air filtration, enhanced sanitation efforts and contact-free ticketing will help assure safety. An online viewing option will also be available.
“Surveys are showing that performing arts audiences rank among the top vaccinated groups in the country,” Cecsarini says. “Our company and our audience will create the safety conditions together.”
“Simplicity is our byword,” he continues. “You could do this piece on a bare stage with a few sticks of furniture. We’re offering more than that, but we’re keeping it modest. Hatcher’s stories are quiet—gently suspenseful with wry humor sprinkled in. It would be easy to overwhelm them with too many bells and whistles.”
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“I very much enjoy his trick of having his characters mention some of the same people or events, but clearly not be personally involved in any way with one another. I very much look forward to playing in this one in the same room as other people.”
Three Viewings runs Sept. 23-Oct. 17 at Next Act’s home theater at 255 S. Water St. For tickets, call 414-278-07065 or visit nextact.org.
