'A play about people': World premiere of 'God's Spies' kicks off at Walker Point's Next Act Theatre

 

WALKER'S POINT, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A lawyer, a sex worker, and a playwright walk into a room. It sounds like the start of a bad joke, but it's actually the basis of Next Act Theatre's latest show called "God's Spies" by Bill Cain. 

“It’s a play about Shakespeare, it’s a play about pandemics, the Black plague in Shakespeare's time but maybe a little applicable to our time," said Marketing Director A.J. Magoon. “The three of them are stuck in a room together and they need to find ways to make ends meet until the plague quarantine ends.”

Three actors. One stage.

“There is something magical when actors simply absorb these characters and combine their own beings with the character that’s been written," said Director David Cecsarini. "There is something about this experience that cannot be replicated."

Magoon and Cecsarini described the show as "funny" and noted that it delves into "people" and their foibles, ambitions, and passions."

“It’s a play about being creative during times of crisis and how art helps us through the tough times," Magoon said. "Sort of finding that empathy and that connection with other people, even in the direst of circumstances.”

While God's Spies represents the ending of the theatre's 2022-2023 season, it also marks the world premiere of the show.

The play is also a part of World Premiere Wisconsin -- an inaugural festival that highlights local shows and promotes community involvement through the end of June.

"What they bring to the rehearsal hall is absolutely wonderful and focused and exciting, but there's an extra notch that goes up to their game when they're in the presence of a live audience," Cecsarini said. "There'd be no purpose without people coming and sitting in those chairs.

Magoon agreed, re-emphasizing the fact that God's Spies is a brand-new piece. 

"To see a new play that no one has ever seen before, open on our stage?" Magoon said. "The more people that are willing to come out and support their local arts groups, the stronger the local arts scene can be.”

God's Spies premieres Thursday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m. but officially opens Friday, April 28 at 7:30 p.m.

If you can't make those dates, the play will run through May 21. 

To buy tickets, click here.