Photo Flash: First Look At BE HERE NOW At Everyman Theatre

Everyman Theatre continues its 2019/2020 season with Deborah Zoe Laufer's intricately calibrated production Be Here Now. Laufer also directs the production, which runs January 21 through February 16, 2020.

Bari (Beth Hylton*†) has always been a bit of an angry, depressed misanthrope. Losing her job teaching nihilism in New York City to work at the local fulfillment center in her rural hometown upstate sends her into despair. But lately, her recurring headaches manifest bizarre, ecstatic, nearly religious experiences. They're changing her entire view on life. She's in love! She's almost...happy?!

When she finds out these headaches are also killing her, she must decide whether it's better to live a short, joyful life, or risk a lifetime of despair and misery. Through extremes of laughter, sorrow, pain, and love, Bari must ask herself what she's willing to do for love, and in the end... is it even worth it?

Rounding out the cast for the Everyman production are Katy Carkuff* as Patty Cooper, Shubhangi Kuchibhotla as Luanne Cooper, and Kyle Prue*† as Mike Cooper.

Deborah Zoe Laufer's plays have been produced at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Cleveland Playhouse, Geva Theatre Center, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Portland Stage, and The Humana Festival. Informed Consent, an Alfred P. Sloan/EST commission appeared at The Duke Theatre in NYC in 2015, a co-production of Primary Stages and EST. It was a NY Times Critics Pick. Her play End Days won The ATCA Steinberg citation and has received over 70 productions around the country as well as in Germany, Russia, and Australia. Other plays include Leveling Up, Out of Sterno, The Last Schwartz, Sirens, Meta, The Gulf of Westchester, Miniatures, and Fortune.

According to Everyman Theatre Artistic Director, Vincent M. Lancisi, "Be Here Now is a beautiful, funny play that recognizes the importance of laughing at ourselves and seizing the moment to find the joy in life. Playwright and director Deborah Zoe Laufer and this talented cast will make you laugh out loud and reminds us how precious life is. In my mind, it's the most profound romantic comedy in the theatre today."

Be Here Now had its world premiere at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park in February 2018, and has since played in Boca Raton, FL at Theatre Lab, Aurora Theatre in Atlanta, and Shattered Globe in Chicago. Everyman Theatre marks the production's East Coast premiere.

Deborah Zoe Laufer's Be Here Now runs January 21 - February 16, 2020. Tickets ($10-69) are on sale now, online (everymantheatre.org), by phone (410.752.2208), or at the Everyman Theatre Box Office (315 W. Fayette Street, Baltimore, MD).