LAST NERVE To Perform At Chain Theatre's One-Act Festival
Writer-director Maggie Fern's dark comedy explores marriage, ego, and the afterlife at New York's Chain Theatre.
Theater thrives on unique timelines and untraditional backgrounds. For the creative team behind Last Nerve, bringing a story to life at the Chain Theatre's One-Act Festival meant assembling a fresh collective from outside the standard theatrical roster. The production relies on the team's distinct perspectives to build the show completely from the ground up.
Written, directed, and self-produced by Maggie Fern, Last Nerve embraces an open approach to the stage. Fern focuses on making theater fully accessible by casting the exact individuals who best embody the character journey and intentionally celebrating the depth of a story even when that journey unfolds in a concentrated ten-minute window. The production relies on a limited set, minimal lighting, and precise sound cues to establish a deeply personal, claustrophobic atmosphere.
Kathy has always been the center of her own universe and expects the exact same treatment from the afterlife. Trapped in an undefined ethereal space, she subjects her weary husband, Dennis, to a relentless barrage of questions about his eternal devotion and the "mystique" she left behind. When Dennis reveals that he moved on with his remaining thirty years including remarrying, building a life, and eventually donating his heart to science alongside his new wife - the conversation takes a sharp, darkly comic turn.
Part comedy, part reckoning, Last Nerve is a story about the narratives we tell ourselves, the marriages we survive, and what it means to be truly heard (even after death).
Writer, Maggie Fern utilizes a hands-on, DIY approach to write dark, existential stories that expose our shared insecurities. Her background as a former engineer at NASA and Boeing, alongside her time as an AI ethics fellow at Georgetown University, deeply influences the stories she is drawn to. These narratives frequently circle themes of death, desperation, and an unfounded optimism that everything will turn out okay in the end.
Performance & Livestream Details:
Last Nerve premieres live as part of Block 20 at the Chain Theatre (312 West 36 Street, Floor 3, New York, NY 10018), with a livestream option available for audiences everywhere.
Showtimes:
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Friday, July 12 at 2:00 PM (In-Person)
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Sunday, July 26 at 5:00 PM (In-Person & Livestream)
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Wednesday, July 29 at 6:30 PM (In-Person)
In-person and virtual tickets can be purchased through the festival website. Audiences can use the discount code NERVE26 for 20% off both the in-person tickets and livestreams when purchased in advanced online.
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