Our production of THE LAST WHITE MAN draws Next Act’s 2021-22 season to a close, and what a season it’s been! We returned to live theatre and welcomed you back into our space. Things looked a little different, with masks and vaccine checks, but you stuck it out with us. We enjoyed laughing as well as thinking – these plays provided us with moments for enjoyment and reflection.
We’re excited to keep that all going with our 2022-23 season. In it, you’ll see plays about people dealing with big change – wanting a change they can’t seem to get, grappling with the aftermath of a big change or trying to change the world as it changes around them. We hope that you’ll continue to join us at Next Act to laugh and enjoy, think, reflect and embrace another season of transformative plays.
The season will bring big change to Next Act too, as Producing Artistic Director David Cecsarini will step down after the 2022-23 season. More information will be coming soon, but we hope you’ll join us to embrace this change and say “farewell” to David.
KILL MOVE PARADISE
by James Ijames
Directed by Marti Gobel
September 22 – October 16, 2022
In a space somewhere between past and future, between now and never, four Black men meet. Isa, Daz, Grif and Tiny have been torn from the lives they knew and thrust into limbo, just to find out they are only four names on an ever-growing list. Their time waiting for others to arrive turns into an electrifying fusion of words, movement, combat, music, dance and play that express both profound grief and radical joy. Far from merely cold statistics of slain Black men and women, James Ijames sketches moving portraits of vibrant lives cut short.
THE TIN WOMAN
by Sean Grennan
Directed by Edward Morgan
November 23 – December 18, 2022
Receiving a heart transplant gives Joy a new lease on life. Her second chance, however, comes with a question: how to avoid squandering this new gift? A complex web of laughter and grief entangles Joy and the family of her transplant donor as they grapple with what comes next. Based on a true story, THE TIN WOMAN is a heartfelt, humorous look at the importance of family and what it means to live fully.
THERE IS A HAPPINESS THAT MORNING IS
by Mickle Mahler
WISCONSIN PREMIERE
Directed by Mary MacDonald Kerr
Featuring Cassandra Bissell and Neil Brookshire
February 23 – March 19, 2023
A couple, scholars teaching William Blake,
Engage in coitus on a campus green.
The fallout from this public act may break
The lovers up, destroy their jobs, and mean
An end to all the happiness they’ve had.
In lectures to their students, these two vent
Feelings on love, on death, the good or bad,
And ire ‘gainst the college president.
Laughter, drama! Love might win the day
In Mickle Mahler’s modern poem play.
GOD’S SPIES
by Bill Cain
WISCONSIN PREMIERE
Directed by David Cecsarini
April 27 – May 21, 2023
A lawyer, a prostitute and a playwright walk into a room. And then they stay. Shakespeare (Shax) runs London’s most popular theatre, but now he’s forced to shelter inside due to an outbreak of plague. With the theatres closed and no distractions, what’s left to be done is to write a new masterpiece. Assisted by two unlikely companions, Shax (and favorite Next Act playwright Bill Cain) explore the mysteries of life, love and death while navigating the complexities of a world under quarantine lockdown.
Renewal materials have gone out to all current subscribers and members, and we encourage you to renew your subscriptions by April 22 in order to keep your seats for the upcoming season! Please contact the Next Act Theatre ticket office at (414) 278-0765 or boxoffice@nextact.org with any questions.
Interested in buying new season tickets or memberships? Subscriptions go on sale April 25!
Single tickets for the upcoming season will go on sale August 1.
Help us celebrate our 33rd season by becoming a production sponsor! Contact Development Director Jane Flieller at jane@nextact.org or (414) 278-7780 to learn more.