The Santa Fe Playhouse presents ‘Everybody’, a modern reimagining of a 15th morality play, opens June 18. Courtesy/Santa Fe Playhouse
SANTA FE PLAYHOUSE News:
SANTA FE — We’re all going to die someday, but what happens when you get a heads-up? What steps do you take to prepare for your end, and what do you bring with you?
In this Pulitzer Prize-nominated play by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, actors are chosen at random each night to play the protagonist and make their journey towards death.
Opening at Santa Fe Playhouse Saturday, June 18, ‘Everybody’ is a modern re-imaging of the 15th century morality play, ‘Everyman’, one of the first recorded plays in the English language. Jacob-Jenkins breathes new life into the old text by imbuing the characters with humor and the journey with spectacle.
“’Everybody’ explores one of humanity’s greatest mysteries: How do we prepare for death? I’m a longtime fan of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ work, so it’s thrilling to dive into this multi-tentacled play that flirts with spectacle and clashes artistic forms to poke and pry at the human condition — and find the humor and humanity in such a topic,” said the director, Zoe Lesser, one of the founders of the Santa Fe-based immersive theater group, the Exodus Ensemble.
The main character, called Everybody, accounts for their life in the face of God’s judgment. The play is tethered to Earth by an Usher, a tongue-in-cheek — yet ever-gentle — docent for the audience on Everybody’s journey. Almost all of the play’s characters represent moral concepts and states of being. The Usher will be played by Biana Thompson, an actor from Boston. The cast also includes St. John’s College graduate student Emily Neifert; Albuquerque-based actor Malcom Stokes; Koppany Pusztai of Theater Grottesco; playwright David Stallings (Anaïs Nin Goes To Hell) and actor, director, and intimacy coordinator Antonio Miniño.
Everybody opens at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 18, at Santa Fe Playhouse, 142 E. De Vargas Street, with additional performances through July 10. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Matinees begin the second performance weekend.
Tickets are $75 for premium reserved seating; $50 for reserved seating; $30 for general admission; $27 for seniors; and $15 for students.
Go to santafeplayhouse.org or call 505.988.4262.
About Santa Fe Playhouse
Santa Fe Playhouse has presented theater by and for Santa Feans for 100 years, from beloved classics to new works by local and national artists. As our city, our country, and our world changes, the Playhouse offers compelling productions that will provoke difficult conversations with compassion, while pushing theatrical forms and opening doors for artists of all backgrounds and identities.