Deep Blue Sound
August 28-September 14
Baxter School for the Deaf (1 Mackworth Island, Falmouth, ME 04105)
On a small island off the coast of an American city, we find a town in a crisis: The whales have gone missing. While (unofficial) Mayor Annie searches for a solution, Chris works to patch things up with Mary; John offers help to a local drifter; Leslie yearns for a faraway pen pal; Ali has come home to care for her mother, Ella, who keeps a quiet and profound secret. Local newspaper editor Joy keeps a watchful eye over all. The community bustles with comings and goings, intrigue, and hysterical small-town gossip. But where are these whales? Have they simply moved to new waters, or has our collective neglect of the Earth driven them away for good? DEEP BLUE SOUND is a beautiful meditation on our relationship to our neighbors, ourselves, and the natural world around us.
By Abe Koogler
Directed by PTF Artistic Director Dave Register.
DIRECTOR
PLAYWRIGHT
ABE KOOGLER writes darkly comedic plays about economic class, unusual jobs, and the challenges and absurdities of making a living in today’s America. Although grounded in realism, his plays often incorporate imaginary elements and heightened or musical language. Abe has won an Obie Award for Playwriting for Fulfillment Center, the Dramatist Guild’s Lanford Wilson Award, and a Weissberger Award. He earned graduate degrees in playwriting from UT-Austin and Juilliard. He has taught playwriting at Primary Stages and Bennington College. He also works as a political speechwriter.
Abe’s plays include Deep Blue Sound (Clubbed Thumb), Staff Meal (Playwrights Horizons), Aspen Ideas (Studio Theatre, postponed due to COVID), Fulfillment Center (Manhattan Theatre Club), Kill Floor (Lincoln Center Theatre), Lisa My Friend (Kitchen Dog), Blue Skies Process (Goodman Theatre), and Advance Man (UTNT). With fellow playwrights Katie Bender and Gab Reisman, he co-wrote the immersive journey plays Slip River and Church of the Passionate Cat, which both premiered in Austin. His plays have been directed by Arin Arbus, Daniel Aukin, Lila Neugebauer, Les Waters, and Will Davis, among others.