San Francisco Playhouse to stage "The Nether"

 SanFrancisco Playhouse will kick off 2016 with Jennifer Haley’s mind-blowing play The Nether, which challenges audience to confront an explosive and controversial conversation that resonates with disturbing current events of the day. The Nether asks the question “How can the virtual world be policed—and should it be?”

The San Francisco Playhouse cast for this Bay Area premiere will include Matilda Holtz, Warren David Keith, Louis Parnell, Ruibo Qian, Carmen Steele, and Josh Schell. Bill English will direct.

Pictured: Louis Parnell


THE FUTURE: The Internet has evolved into a virtual reality world where you can live out your every fantasy in complete anonymity. Identities are blurred, dreams real, and culpability seemingly nonexistent. This is the world of Jennifer Haley’s play The Nether, a crime drama and sci-fi thriller that explores the moral and psychological implications of human relationships in an increasingly technological age.

The World Premiere of The Nether was produced by Center Theatre Group/Kirk Douglas Theatre, Michael Ritchie, Artistic Director, in Los Angeles, CA in 2013. It opened at the Royal Court in July 2014 and immediately transferred to the West End. Its New York engagement at MCC, which premiered in February 2015, was extended three times.

A new virtual wonderland provides total sensory immersion. Just log in, choose an identity and indulge
your every whim, no matter how dark or sinister—it’s not “real,” right? But when a young detective
uncovers an ominous brand of entertainment, she triggers a dark battle over technology and human desire. Winner of the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, The Nether is both serpentine crime drama and a

haunting sci-fi thriller that explores the consequences of living out our private dreams.