Actors Theatre of Phoenix Presents NEXT FALL, 10/28-11/13

"Next Fall," the 2010 Tony Award nominee for Best Play, looks deep inside a modern romance surrounded by faith - and the lack thereof - forgiveness - and the hope therein - and the nuances and influences of the people surrounding the relationship from Oct. 28 through Nov. 13 on Stage West at The Herberger Theater, 222 E. Monroe.

The second of Actors Theatre's six-show season, Producing Artistic Director Matthew Wiener makes his 2011-12 directing debut with Geoffrey Nauffts highly-acclaimed production.

The New York Times described the play as "an intellectual stealth bomb ... Even as you're being entertained by the witty talk of ingratiatingly imperfect people, feeling as comfortable as if you were watching your favorite long-running sitcom, big and uneasy questions - really big ones, without answers - are forming in the back of your mind. Don't expect them to go away when the play is over."

The play focuses on Luke and Adam, a gay couple with striking disparities: Luke is a devout Christian, Adam is an atheist. Luke believes Adam is going to hell, not because of their relationship but because he has no relationship with Luke's God. They're surrounded by Luke's divorced parents - his father, Butch, is a born-again fundamentalist while his mother, Holly, is a reformed wild child - and several friends, not all of whom accept their relationship.

When Luke ends up in a coma after being hit by a taxi, the play alternates between scenes in the waiting room and flashbacks depicting the relationship with Adam.

"No one, it seems, is without a religion of some sort, whether it's Holly's commitment to self-help groups, Butch's fierce creationism or even Adam's ritualistic hypochondria," Ben Brantley wrote in the New York Times. "Religions, with their creeds and rules for behavior, may make life simpler, as Luke insists to Adam. But people are messy and no one believes in the same way."

Chance Dean makes his Actors Theatre debut as Luke while Robbie Harper returns to work with Wiener for the first time in several years as Adam. Andi Watson also is making her first appearance with Actors Theatre as Holly while veteran performers David Dickenson (Brandon), Debra K. Stevens (Arlene) and David Vining (Butch) round out the cast.
All will be supported by the experienced team of Paul Black, lighting; Jeff Thomson, set design; Lois Myers, costumes and Brian Honsberger, sound.

Single tickets range in price from $20.50 to $39.50. Flexible season ticket packages for the remaining five plays are available.

To purchase tickets, visit www.atphx.org. Tickets also can be purchased at the Herberger Theater Box Office at (602) 252-8497.