Evenings on the prairie are relatively quiet for Peg, a recently widowed woman in rural Wisconsin who still cooks for two. Which doesn’t go to waste whenever Ryan, a dear friend with a troubled past, pays her a visit. However, after noticing her husband’s toolbox is missing, she places a call to the local authorities—unwittingly setting off a series of events that will forever reverberate through the small community. In a divided country where the lines separating family, friend, and foe have been further blurred in the wake of a global pandemic, Tony Award® winner Robert Falls and Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Gilman masterfully unweave a complex, humanistic yarn the Chicago Sun-Times calls "an engrossing work of intense melancholy, filled with sympathy for its characters, and for the country."
As Ryan, Mr. Weiler gives a similarly nuanced performance. The jittery young man remains traumatized from his time in prison, and is prone to panic attacks. But Mr. Weiler also underscores how deeply grateful Ryan is to Peg underneath his truculent exterior, and how the sudden death of Jim has left a hole in his heart, too. In the role of Dani, Ms. Thompson, looking like a slightly awkward, overgrown girl, brings some leavening humor to the play when she proves to be an unusually sensitive “good cop,” despite being new to the force. And while she has the least complex role, Ms. Fitzgerald fills out the sometimes harsh contours of Sheriff Kris forcefully.
In the play overall, though, you do. And until a thrillingly staged climax that moves unusually fast, you usually foresee the corners with plenty of room to prepare. The result is a play that seems becalmed on its surface despite the powerful emotions underneath — not just the characters’ emotions but the author’s.
2023 | Off-Broadway |
Audible Theater Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play | Bubba Weiler |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play | Eric Southern |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Play | Rebecca Gilman |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Direction of a Play (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Robert Falls |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play | Bubba Weiler |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Play | Mary Beth Fisher |
2024 | The Lortels | Outstanding Featured Performer in a Play | Bubba Weiler |
2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play | Bubba Weiler |
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