San Francisco Playhouse Adds THE NETHER to for 2015-16 Season

San Francisco Playhouse (Artistic Director Bill English and Producing Director Susi Damilano) announced its final selection for the previously-announced 2015-2016 Mainstage season: Jennifer Haley's mind-blowing exploration of second-life morality and virtual criminality, The Nether.

In the near future, a new virtual wonderland provides total sensory immersion. Just log in, choose an identity, and indulge your every whim. But when a young detective uncovers a disturbing brand of entertainment, she triggers a dark battle over technology and human desire. Winner of the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, The Nether is both serpentine crime drama and haunting sci-fi thriller that explores the consequences of living out our private dreams.

"I can't imagine a more fitting addition to our 2015-16 Season than The Nether," said Artistic Director Bill English. "Jennifer Haley's play will dare you to travel with us to a dangerous, not-too-distant future where the truths of our lives today are revealed. Its inclusion in our nine-play season completes our explosive lineup of thought-provoking titles that dare us to reconsider our world view."

The World Premiere of The Nether was produced by Center Theatre Group/Kirk Douglas Theatre, Michael Ritchie, Artistic Director, in Los Angeles, CA in 2013. It opened at the Royal Court in July 2014 and immediately transferred to the West End. Its New York premiere was in February 2015 at MCC Theatre.

Jennifer Haley is a playwright whose work delves into ethics in virtual reality and the impact of technology on our human relationships, identity, and desire. She won the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for her play, The Nether, produced in Los Angeles, off-Broadway, and on London's West End. Other plays include Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom, a horror story about suburban video game addiction, and Froggy, a noir thriller with interactive media design and a live soundtrack. Jennifer has worked with Center Theatre Group, Royal Court Theatre, Headlong, Sonia Friedman Productions, the Humana Festival of New Plays, American Conservatory Theater, The Banff Centre, Sundance Theatre Lab, O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, Lark Play Development Center, PlayPenn, and Page 73. She is a member of New Dramatists in New York City and lives in Los Angeles, where she founded the Playwrights Union.

Mainstage
The San Francisco Playhouse 2015-2016 Mainstage Season includes two west coast premieres, two musical revivals, and two Bay Area premieres. Kicking off the mainstage season is Dogfight, a musical comedy sensation and San Francisco premiere. Sarah Ruhl's Stage Kiss follows, examining what happens when former lovers share a stage. The New Year will usher in Jennifer Haley's mind-blowing play, The Nether, which explores second life morality and virtual criminality, followed by Colossal, Andrew Hinderaker's genre-defying play about football and dance. Springtime will bring with it Red Velvet, a play that won the Most Promising Playwright London Critics Circle Award for playwright Lolita Chakrabarti, followed by the crime noir musical City of Angels, winner of six Tony Awards.

San Francisco Playhouse
Founded in 2003 and boasting 2500 subscribers, the only mid-sized professional venue in downtown San Francisco, San Francisco Playhouse has quickly filled the need for a broad-based intimate, professional presenter of edgy premieres and re-invigorated classics.

The Sandbox Series
The mission of The Sandbox Series is to promote new works utilizing top-notch directors and actors. The presentations will have limited design elements thus reducing the costs and risk of each production. By reducing risk, we hope to bridge the gap between "readings" and "Mainstage" productions and thus provide increased exposure to the new voices in American Theater.

Ticket Information
Season Subscriptions are available immediately online at www.sfplayhouse.org, or by calling the box office at 415-677-9596. Sandbox Series subscription packages are available for $40 for all three plays. Single tickets are $20, and will go on sale to the public on June 1. Six-play Mainstage subscriptions range from $130 to $360.