LOBSTER MAN Full-Length Play Will Make World Premiere This Month

The World Premiere of Jonathan Cook's LOBSTER MAN is happening this month in the southeastern USA. The play tells the story of two survivors in a post-apocalyptic world who struggle with whether they are the last two people alive. The play focuses on rediscovering human connection and strategically stays away from telling what event caused human life to be on the verge of extinction.

"The cause of how the world died seemed less important to me than the relationship built between the characters Mark and Christa during this time of struggle. Less describing meant more room for character growth and more room for them to connect," said Cook.

The play features new original paintings by South Carolina based artist A.C. Daniel whose work embodies an "emergent property" that takes a life of its own.

"The character Christa is an artist and we see several of her works on stage during the play," Cook noted. "And I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to commission a local artist and showcase their work as Christa's in the story."

LOBSTER MAN was originally written as a 15-minute play that premiered in 2011 at Le Chat Noir in Augusta, GA. And then in 2012 it was performed in NYC as part of the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Play Festival. Over the last decade, the short play version went on to be performed in theatres across the USA, Australia, Canada, and the UK.

In 2022, after such a successful run over the years, Cook decided to expand the story into a full-length play, reworking story elements while preserving the heart of it. The full-length version gained immediate traction with a staged reading in San Diego, CA with the Trinity Theatre Company and then it was workshopped further with Wild Imaginings in Waco, TX. And the full-length script then became a semi-finalist for the 2023 Princess Grace Award as well as a finalist in the 2024 Ashland New Plays Festival.

The world premiere of LOBSTER MAN will take place on January 18 at USC Aiken Etherredge Center as part of their SC Artist Series and then the show will continue the following weekend at the venue where the short play version originally premiered - Le Chat Noir in Augusta, GA on January 23, 24, & 25.

"LOBSTER MAN was born at Le Chat Noir," Cook said. "And there's nothing more special than bringing this new expanded version of the show back to where it originally premiered over a decade ago."