Nebraska
by Keith Reddin

September 7-22, 1990
Directed by Rhonda Clark

It’s the end of the Cold War, but for the men and women stationed at an air force base outside of Omaha, the tensions of existence seem to increase each day. Dean Swift has been transferred to missile silo duty. Seventy feet underground, in a sealed launch center, the twenty-four-hour shifts take their toll on Swift, his wife, Julie, and his duty partner, Fielding. Dean entered the service, like his father before him, hoping to find a purpose to his life. Instead, he realizes that his choice of profession is a tragic mistake. Fielding, by contrast, is an enthusiastic product of military thinking, secure in the identity given him by his regimented duties. Swift’s commanding officer, Major Gurney, has problems of his own. His wife, Carol, is bored with the life on base and tries to drown her sorrows in alcohol and a series of adulterous affairs. Sooner or later they all begin to lose their center in a barren landscape of loneliness and despair. NEBRASKA asks the question, "What is the cost of keeping the peace?"

- Dramatists Play Service, Inc.

DIRECTOR'S NOTES:
I saw the first production of NEBRASKA by Keith Reddin at La Jolla Playhouse in California in the summer of 1989, and to my knowledge, this is its second US production.

When I first saw the play, I was struck by the uniqueness of a missile base as a setting for a play, but most importantly, by the incredibly real, human situations Reddin creates for his characters. Countless times during rehearsals, an actor or I have said "I've lived this" or "I've said these things to my boyfriend" or "I've seen this character in a bar somewhere". You may never have been involved with the military (neither have most of us in this production!), but if you, our audience, leave the theatre saying, "I know some of those characters in real life", then we will have succeeded.

Several times in the last few weeks since the problems have exploded in the Middle East, people have commented, "How timely. When did you pick this play about military officers?" Of course, it was selected many months ago, and it is very unfortunate that our minds are now focussed on U.S. servicemen shipping out for overseas. Let us all hope for their quick and safe return

- Rhonda Clark

(Webmaster's note: These notes would have been written around the time of Operation Desert Shield - in preparation for the Gulf War.)