New Haven Theater Company to Present Heisenberg by Simon Stephens

Press release

NEW HAVEN – Fresh off its sold-out and extended production of THE CHRISTIANS New Haven Theater Company announces the final production of its 2024-25 season, Heisenberg written by Simon Stephens and directed by Steve Scarpa.

Performances for Heisenberg will take place on the NHTC Stage in the back of EBM & Civvies Vintage, located at 839 Chapel Street, New Haven. Performance dates are May 1 and 8 at 7:30 p.m., and May 2, 3, 9, and 10 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25.

Amidst a crowded London train station, Georgie spots Alex, a much older man, and plants a kiss on his neck. This electric encounter thrusts these two strangers into a fascinating and life changing game. Simon Stephens's play brings to life the uncertain and often comical sparring match that is human connection.

“Heisenberg … finds the soaring, suspenseful music in even the most basic banalities of the everyday,” wrote Ben Brantley in the New York Times.

Stephens is one of England’s best loved and most prolific playwrights, writing over 40 plays, including The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which won the Olivier Award for Best New Play 2013 and the 2015 Tony Award for Best Play.

“I think Heisenberg is infused with the possibility of optimism and I think that is important. The only response to a world in peril is to be optimistic – I think pessimism is the last resort of the privileged,” Stephens said in a 2017 interview. “There is a difference between optimism and naivety – between optimism and jolliness. Real optimism has to consider real peril, real despair, real fear and real isolation. To deny those is just naïve but it’s about acknowledging those and finding the determination to persist.”

The cast includes company members George Kulp (Alex) and Melissa Andersen (Georgie). The show is directed by company member Steve Scarpa.

Kulp, a longtime company member, has appeared on stage in White Rabbit, Red Rabbit, Middletown, The Seafarer, Proof, The Magician, and Glengarry Glen Ross, while also directing several company productions. Andersen, who joined the company in 2022, recently appeared in last season’s hit Cry It Out, as well as Trevor and A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About The Death of Walt Disney, among others.

Scarpa directed NHTC’s first production at EBM, Our Town. His NHTC directing credits include Proof and Waiting for Lefty. He also appeared in a dozen plays, most recently White Rabbit, Red Rabbit.

“This thoughtful, moving, and funny play deals with some of the biggest questions we all wrestle with - how do we live our lives? Do we trust? Do we go after the things or people we desire? Can we find love?,” Scarpa said.

The New Haven Theater Company is Melissa Andersen, Ralph Buonocore, Drew Gray, George Kulp, Susan Kulp, Margaret Mann, Deena Nicol-Blifford, Sandra Rodriguez, Steve Scarpa, Jenny Schuck, J. Kevin Smith, John Strano, Marty Tucker, John Watson, Jodi Williams, and Trevor Williams

For more information, visit www.newhaventheatercompany.com.