Interview: Jason Nodler and Greg Dean of THE DESIGNATED MOURNER at Catastrophic Theatre

THE DESIGNATED MOURNER by Wallace Shawn is a show that THE CATASTROPHIC THEATRE has done twice before. BROADWAY WORLD reviewed it back in 2017, when we were in the first term of, well, our current president. It is a show about authoritarianism and a government that targets the intelligentsia. The play explores themes of anti-intellectualism, complicity, and the uneasy burden of being the designated mourner for a culture that has basically been decimated or destroyed. So there are three characters in this show, and we get to hear them through their monologues, and it's a very word-heavy piece. We've got Greg Dean, who plays Jack, a self-described “former student of English literature, who went downhill from there.” Patricia Duran plays Jack's refined, solid ex-wife, Judy. Charlie Scott will be playing Judy's famous father, Howard. He's an esteemed writer whose early expressions of sympathy for the nation's poor continue to threaten him and his circle. In this discussion, BROADWAY WORLD writer Brett Cullum is joined by the show's director, Jason Nodler, and actor Greg Dean.

Brett Cullum: The show runs for a limited time at the MATCH through April 25th. You've done this twice before. What is it about this particular piece that haunts you enough to put it on again and again?

Greg Dean: My feeling is that we have not reached the bottom of it yet. It just gets deeper and deeper. You think you've wrung every bit of nuance out of it, and it turns out you haven't. There's further to go. And this character—it’s one of the few times where it feels like a character written in a play that has almost the same complexity as a living, breathing human being.

Jason Nodler: I think Greg put it well when he said it was bottomless. The play is just… it’s about everything. I’ve read it maybe 200 times over the years. It used to be my favorite thing to do—get friends together after the bar closes and read it out loud. I’ve never been able to pick it up without getting something new from it. It felt like time to bring it back.

Brett Cullum: How many times have you played this character, Greg?

Greg Dean: This is number three.

Brett Cullum: Third time’s the charm. Your company does revivals quite a bit. How do you approach coming back to material again?

Greg Dean: The second time I did WAITING FOR GODOT, I tried to repeat what worked before. Now I don’t do that. I want to fix what didn’t work, dig deeper, and understand things I didn’t before. I’m not trying to repeat myself anymore—I want to get better.

Jason Nodler: I prefer to call them revisiting plays rather than revivals. You can’t step into the same river twice. We’re different people now, and the world is different. So even though the words are the same, everything else has changed.

Brett Cullum: Yeah, 2017 me wouldn’t believe 2026 me.

Jason Nodler: It seems impossible.

Brett Cullum: One thing I like about Wallace Shawn’s script is that it’s not preachy. It’s more of a slow burn.

Greg Dean: “Oblique” is a good word for it. It approaches things from unexpected angles.

Brett Cullum: When did he write this?

Jason Nodler: It was published in 1996.

Brett Cullum: That’s wild, because it feels so current.

Greg Dean: Initially, we tried for years to get the rights to do it.

Brett Cullum: Most people know Wallace Shawn from his film roles, but he’s a prolific playwright too. How many of his scripts have you done?

Jason Nodler: We’ve done MARIE AND BRUCE twice, THE FEVER, and THE DESIGNATED MOURNER three times. He’s one of our most-produced playwrights.

Brett Cullum: So he’s kind of an old friend. It’s a very word-dense play.

Greg Dean: Yes—lots of language to navigate and internalize.

Brett Cullum: What do you hope audiences take away in 2026?

Greg Dean: I just hope it feels honest and makes people feel something. I don’t try to convey a specific message—I just want to do it truthfully.

Jason Nodler: People always ask, “Why this play now?” Usually I say, “Because this play always.” But this time, it feels especially timely. Each time we revisit it, it becomes something new.

Brett Cullum: The play deals with anti-intellectualism. Do you think that’s present in the arts today?

Greg Dean: It’s baked into America. It’s everywhere, including the arts.

Brett Cullum: I think your company provides an outlet for people who want to be challenged.

Greg Dean: I like escapism too, but I love work that makes you think and feel difficult things.

Jason Nodler: We tend to do the plays people say no one wants to see—and then prove them wrong.

Brett Cullum: That’s your ethos.

Jason Nodler: Exactly.

Greg Dean: For me, it’s always been about doing the plays I want to do.

Brett Cullum: And that’s what makes your work exciting—it’s unexpected.

Jason Nodler: I think this play really speaks to division in our culture right now, especially with social media and how disconnected we’ve become. It’s about morality and what we do in the face of injustice.

Brett Cullum: That’s a great note to end on, morality in the face of injustice. The world could certainly use that now. THE DESIGNATED MOURNER runs at the MATCH through April 25th. Thank you both for joining me. I hope next time we revisit this play, it feels less relevant.

Greg Dean: Maybe we’ll look back and simply say it was a darker time.