Boom, a Comedy That Ponders the Apocalypse, Gets an Extension in DC | Playbill

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News Boom, a Comedy That Ponders the Apocalypse, Gets an Extension in DC The Washington, D.C. production of Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's Boom, the science fiction fantasy comedy about sex, fish, extinction and the end of the world, has been extended one week to Dec. 7 by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.
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Scene from Boom

Previews began Nov. 3 toward an opening of Nov. 9. The previous final date was Nov. 30.

Nachtrieb is the award-winning writer of Hunter Gatherers. Boom has been revised since its spring 2008 presentation at Ars Nova in New York City.

Directed by Woolly Mammoth veteran John Vreeke, the cast includes Kimberly Gilbert, Sarah Marshall and Aubrey Deeker. The production features a set designed by local architect Tom Kamm.

Here's how Woolly Mammoth characterizes the play: "Can the apocalypse be the ultimate aphrodisiac? It certainly ups the ante when Jules, a marine biology grad student (Aubrey Deeker), attempts a random hook up through a personal ad that reads 'Sex to change the course of the world…' When he gets a response from a randy journalism major named Jo (Kimberly Gilbert), they meet at the subterranean lab where Jules studies fish sleep cycles for signs of impending global doom. This simple online connection quickly moves far beyond casual sex into the realms of ontogeny, phylogeny, evolution and extinction — all overseen by an odd docent-like woman named Barbara (Sarah Marshall). In this provocative sci-fi fantasy, the future of humanity hangs in the balance as irreverent young playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb asks: do we control our own fate or is someone else pulling the levers?"

* Artistic director Howard Shalwitz stated, "What a fun, stimulating show this is. What begins as a simple romantic-comedy transforms itself into a full-blown sci-fi fantasy. Peter's unexpected vision of the future of life on planet Earth combines braininess, zaniness, and quite a bit of compassion. He asks us to think about the precarious nature of our existence, while at the same time celebrating the resilience of life, both great and small."

Peter Sinn Nachtrieb is a San Francisco-based playwright whose works include Hunter Gatherers, Colorado, Meaningless and The Amorphous Blob. Hunter Gatherers received the 2007 American Theatre Critics Association/Steinberg New Play Award for best new play to premiere outside of New York and the 2007 Will Glickman Prize for best new play in the Bay Area. His work has been seen at Ars Nova, SPF, Seattle Rep, Cleveland Public Theatre, Brown/Trinity Playwrights Rep, the Bailiwick Theatre, Wellfleet Harbor Actor's Theatre, Dad's Garage and the Magic Theatre, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Killing My Lobster, Playground and Impact Theatre in the Bay Area. He holds a degree in theatre and biology from Brown and an MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.

The design team for Boom includes Ivana Stack (costume design), Colin K. Bills (lighting design), Neil McFadden (sound design) and Jennifer Sheetz (properties).

Woolly Mammoth is located at 641 D Street, NW (7th & D). For more information visit www.woollymammoth.net.

 
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