New Mexico Actors Lab Closes Season with Mat Smart's EDEN PRAIRIE

The New Mexico Actors Lab will close its 2024 season with the New Mexico premiere of Mat Smart's Eden Prairie, 1971, a bittersweet play about two young people during the Vietnam War who struggle to find hope while being crushed by a divided country. The show opens on November 13 and runs through December 1.

Individual tickets are $35, with discounted tickets (see website for details) and limited-seating preview performances costing $15. All performances will be held at NMAL's permanent home, the Lab Theater, located at 1213 Parkway Drive in Santa Fe - one block from Meow Wolf. Flex-passes and individual tickets are now on sale at the NMAL website, www.nmactorslab.com or at www.tix.com/ticket-sales/NMActorsLab/6585.

Directed Nicholas Ballas, Eden Prairie, 1971 is set on the same night Apollo 15 makes its lunar landing. Draft-dodger Pete (Koppany Pusztai) steals home to Eden Prairie, MN after a 300-mile trek from Canada risking arrest to deliver an important message to his childhood friend, Rachel (Chloe Carson). Both are caught between duty to the ones they love and their own futures. In a moment of national tension that mirrors our own, Pete must defend his choices and grapple with the sacrifices he has made. This gentle drama, which also features Karen Ryan as Rachel's mother, questions our notions of bravery and responsibility.

This play is particularly important to Mr. Ballas as he will be retiring from NMAL this year after completing five years of leadership as Artistic Director. He chose Eden Prairie, 1971 to reinforce NMAL's commitment to new, relevant works.

Award-winning playwright Mat Smart has written 25 full-length plays that have been produced around the United States and currently has several television projects in development.

Contains brief nudity; not suitable for young audiences.

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