BY KAREN BOSSICK
Samuel D. Hunter’s new play, “A Case for the Existence of God,” will take the stage this week and next at the Reinheimer Ranch south of Ketchum.
The play is being directed by New York City’s Paul Lazar. It will star Pete Simpson, who won a 2017 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence, and Stevie Johnson.
Hunter, a MacArthur Genius playwright, is a Moscow, Idaho, native—the son of a physician-- who sets all of his plays in Idaho. Local audiences have gotten to see staged readings of a few of his plays, including his satirical “Lewiston” and “Clarkston.”
His “A Bright New Boise” won the 2011 Obie Award for playwriting. His “The Whale” won a 2013 Drama Desk Award.
Hunter’s newest play is set in Twin Falls, opening in a cubicle in a small office where two men struggle to balance the confounding terms on a loan. Over the course of the play, two single fathers form a moving bond in a thoughtful meditation on human resilience.
Lazar has had roles in such movies as “Silence of the Lambs,” “Mickey Blue Eyes,” Beloved,” “Lorenzo’s Oil,” “Philadelphia” and “Married to the Mob.”
A founding member of Big Dance Theater, he is a superstar in the downtown New York theater scene, said Jon Kane, whose Sawtooth Productions is putting on the play with the help of Laughing Stock Theater, Field Daze Summer Events and The Argyros. Lazar, who has appeared in more than 40 movies, came to Ketchum to direct John Patrick Shanley’s “Outside Mullingar” at The Argyros two years ago.
“A Case for the Existence of God” was commissioned by Signature Theatre in New York City where it will have its official world premiere in 2022.
Sun Valley audiences are getting a sneak peak at the play this week and next, alongside Hunter, who will refine the text based on what he sees here.
The fully mounted play opens at 8 tonight and runs at 8 through Friday, July 2. It will take a break, returning Tuesday through Saturday, July 6-10 with a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee on July 10. Complimentary champagne will be served prior to the show on Opening Night.
The play runs 90 minutes without an intermission. Attendees are welcome to bring blankets or low-back chairs. FieldDaze is partnering with Warfield Distillery & Brewery for snacks, organic beer, and cocktails this summer.
Tickets are $35, on sale at https://theargyros.org and www.fielddazesunvalley.org