New Mexico Actors Lab will open its fourth show of the 2024 season on September 4 with Burn This, which was hailed by the Los Angeles Herald Examiner as American playwright Lanford Wilson’s “masterpiece”. The production, directed by Nicholas Ballas, will run through Sunday, September 22.
All performances will be held at NMAL’s permanent home, the Lab Theater, located at 1213 Parkway Drive in Santa Fe – one block from Meow Wolf. Individual tickets are $35, with discounted tickets at $15 for students, theater, food service and hospitality employees, and limited-seating preview performances. Tickets are now on sale at the NMAL website, www.nmactorslab.com or at www.tix.com/ticket-sales/NMActorsLab/6585
Burn This is “steeped in the rich compassion for the lonely and lost that is the hallmark of Wilson’s works” (The New York Times). Set in the late 1980s, Lanford Wilson’s explosive drama explores the impact of the death of a young dancer named Robbie in a boating accident. The tragedy brings Robbie’s roommates, Anna and Larry as well Anna’s boyfriend, Burton, into contact with Robbie’s brother, Pale, a product of working-class New Jersey who had little recent contact with the much younger and gay Robbie. The play features a newcomer to the Actors Lab company, Meghan Bode in the pivotal role of Anna. She is joined by NMAL regulars Alexander Lane as the incendiary Pale, Geoffrey Pomeroy as Burton and another newcomer to The LAB company, Garrick Sigl who brings welcome comedic relief to the drama as Larry.
The illustrious production pedigree for the show includes the notable premier featuring Joan Allen and John Malkovich as well as more recent revivals with Adam Driver, Keri Russell, Edward Norton and Catherine Keener.
Lanford Wilson (1938 -2011) was born in Lebanon, Missouri. He attended the University of Chicago and was a founding member of the Circle Repertory Company in New York. His plays have been produced in theaters all over the United States and abroad. He was the recipient of many awards, including a Drama Desk Vernon Rice Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and two Obies.
Additional information at www.nmactorslab.com
Artistic Director, Nicholas Ballas nicob@nmactorslab.com (505) 670-1077
Managing Director, Katie Olivant kfolivant@nmactorslab.com (209) 535-7088