The Once and Future Antipodes (or, "156 Weeks Later")

3 years ago, S70 was gearing up to present Annie Baker's The Antipodes. Baker, just shy of 42 now, had won the Pulitzer by the time she was 34. We'd done one of Baker's shows before, Circle Mirror Transformation, and it had been a particularly meaningful play for us.  

We all love Annie's work -- how well written it always is, how human, how surprising.

And in March of 2020, we were deep in rehearsals, getting ready to move into the Black Box to continue working and tech the show -- and something was happening outside the theater walls... we were all aware of the stories of this new virus that was making its way throughout the world. The Wisest among us had already started carrying hand sanitizer and keeping their distance.

And we were rehearsing this play; looking at  people in a writers room (what they're writing is never said), it's smart and funny and insightful...and mysterious.

Then, as we all keep saying now in looking back, the world abruptly shut down, and The Antipodes didn't make it into the Black Box Theater at TCNJ. That happened to A LOT of theater people everywhere; there are endless stories of "we were 2 weeks from opening", "we were 3 days from opening..." 

Many of those productions have been or are now being remounted -- I heard a theater friend refer to them the other day as "zombie productions"...

Well, our monster is back too: The Antipodes opens on Wednesday, March the 22nd. Six of the original cast of nine were free to come back to this production, and 3 new folks were able to join us, and together we've been  revisiting and exploring this play.

Coming back to a play under these particular circumstances is reallllly interesting. I could say more, and maybe I will, but for now I just want to ask you to please plan to join us: 

Wednesday through Sunday, 
March the 22nd through the 26th 
at the Don Evans Black Box theater, 

for this play and for this production that are, well, a weird love letter to the creative process.

 
~ Janet Q 
Director, The Antipodes 
3/6/23