Lexington’s first resident professional theater company, New Views Theatre, is currently rehearsing “Planet First,” a new play written by William R. Duell, the artistic director of the theater, and directed by Jennifer Decker, an acclaimed director and the artistic director of Mildred’s Umbrella Theater in Houston.
Performances, which will be held in the black-box Johnson Theatre on the first floor of the Lenfest Center, will be Saturday, Aug. 1, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Aug. 2, 3 p.m.; Friday, Aug. 7, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Aug. 8, 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Aug 9, 3 p.m.
Tickets are available at https://www.newviewstheatre.org/tickets.
In the play, a young Catholic activist on her way to a climate- warming forum in New York City stops in a small paper mill town to attend a protest and be interviewed by a podcaster. She meets a man, also spiritual, who charms her and who’s as concerned about global warming as she is. When she learns why, all hell breaks loose.
“Planet First” is one of several networked projects of “Gather Woods, Gather Words,” an international artistscholar collaboration conceived by Susan Ossman, an artist and anthropologist at NYU Abu Dhabi, and focused on climate change around the world, currently focusing on Brazil, Morocco, Europe, India, the UAE and the United States.
Duell said that he wanted to address climate change from the point of view of two people who are vastly different but immensely attracted to each other.
Director Jennifer Decker added, “I saw the staged reading of the play in Houston, and I was impressed with how a play about climate change could be so engaging and funny. When William asked me to direct, I jumped at the chance to work on it.”
Duell said that it meets the theater’s mission of bringing off-off-Broadway to Lexington, and of showcasing area talent.
In addition to Duell, Owen Collins of Washington and Lee University, Ann Courtney of Mountain Gateway Community College, and Simon Marland of James Madison University are designers, and Samuel Camp of Mountain Gateway is one of the three main characters. The other two are Mayra Monsivais of Houston, who performed in the 2024 reading of the play at Main Street Theater in Houston, and Ronan Melomo of Staunton.
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