Pulitzer Prize-winner Annie Baker returns for the second production of her Signature residency with a world premiere play, directed by Lila Neugebauer.

A play about people telling stories about telling stories. The Antipodes is the second production in Pulitzer Prize-winner Annie Baker’s Signature residency.

Starring: Josh Charles, Phillip James Brannon, Josh Charles, Josh Hamilton, Danny Mastrogiorgio, Danny McCarthy, Emily Cass McDonnell, Brian Miskell, Will Patton, and Nicole Rodenburg

Scenic design by Laura Jellinek
Costume design by Kaye Voyce
Lighting design by Tyler Micoleau
Sound design by Bray Poor

In her new play, The Antipodes, at Signature Theatre, Annie Baker once again uses the trappings of naturalism to tell a contemporary story that veers at times into the realm of magical realism. Clocking in at about two hours, this intermission-less play (sharply directed by Lila Neugebauer) is shorter than Baker’s Pulitzer-winning The Flick (2013) or John (2015), but it’s just as smart, engaging, and strange as those earlier works. The action takes place entirely in a sterile corporate conference room in which a group of young-to-middle-aged people assembles to help create some kind of story under the supervision of a mysterious, guru-like figure named Sandy (the excellent Will Patton). On exactly what platform this story is to unfold is never made clear. It seems to be either a television series or a movie (or movie franchise), but it could just as well be some sort of graphic novel or video game. We do know that Sandy has had a stunning success earlier with something called “The Heathens.” Most of the participants are newcomers, but two of them—played by Josh Charles and Danny Mastrogiorgio—have worked with Sandy previously and take considerable pride in their seniority. Sandy is …Read more