The Actor's Nightmare
The title says it all, and every actor and actress who has ever graced the stage knows it all too well. Bobby, Danni, and Christina are three high school students who share the same bad dreams of forgetting their lines, blanking on their monologues for a big audition, looking foolish in a death scene, or being in a really bad play where you don't even know what it is or any of the cast members in it! They stumble through the ridiculous scenarios by any means necessary, improvising and freaking out at the same time. Chaos and calamity reign supreme as they deal with their fears under some outrageous circumstances that just seem too weird to be true. In the end, we find out that all of the nightmares were just a figment of one actress' vivid imagination. But she quickly discovers that while some dreams do indeed come true, so do some nightmares!
Productions
Behind The Scenes
PLAYWRIGHT ALAN HECKNER TALKS ABOUT
HIS PLAY “THE ACTOR’S NIGHTMARE”
Q: WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THIS PLAY?
A: My dreams, nightmares, and imagination. I wanted to show what goes on in the mind of actors and actresses everywhere.
Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE PART OR LINE IN THE PLAY? WHY?
A: I think my favorite part of the play is the fact that any and all of the actors and actresses who play these parts will get a chance to have fun with the characters and really showcase their acting skills through a range of emotions, reactions, and at times, bizarre stage behavior. It's "how" they perform the play that makes the show incredibly funny and great.
Q: WHERE DID THE CHARACTERS COME FROM? ARE THEY BASED ON PEOPLE YOU KNOW?
A: The characters are all people that you might meet when you're dreaming...they can be weird, scary, funny, and familiar, etc.
Q: WHAT DID YOU TRY TO ACHIEVE WITH THIS PLAY?
A: I'd like to think that any audience that sees the play will identify a lot of the common anxieties and "sweet smell of success/victory" type of dreams and nightmares that we share as human beings, and yet will still be able to laugh at how absurd or comedic they come across when looked at from a spectator point of view, as well as from an actor's point of view.