Man From Nebraska

Tracy Letts' New Play

Following his Tony-winning performance in The Humans, Reed Birney will head the cast of another acclaimed drama, this time from the pen of Tracey Letts (August: Osage County). Man from Nebraska centers on Ken Carpenter, a middle-aged family man coasting through his life, who is struck with the sudden revelation that he has lost his faith.

Wrestling universal themes into a realistic, human drama, Man From Nebraska is a contemplative, slow-burning work from the playwright who also gave us the violent Bug and Killer Joe. It premiered at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater, under the direction of William Friedkin, back in 2003, and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. This New York premiere is directed by Drama Desk nominee David Cromer (The Adding Machine, Tribes).

What is Man from Nebraska About?

From the outside, Ken Carpenter is your typical everyman. Married, with a daughter, he's a devout baptist and holds down a steady job at an insurance company. But something is chipping away at his insides, something which comes bursting out one evening at the dinner table. "I don't believe in God!" It's a shocking revelation, for Ken himself and his family, and seeking guidance, he visits the local pastor. Diagnosing cold feet, the pastor advises him to take a vacation to clear his head.

So Ken jets off to London, and while there, falls in with a circle of people who couldn't be any more different from his friends back home. It's a disarming, and sometimes frightening culture clash, which ultimately might just be what Ken needs...