New Play ‘The Nether’ Comes to Culver City’s Kirk Douglas Theatre

The Nether  - described by the Center Theatre Group as “a serpentine crime drama and haunting sci-fi thriller that explores the darkest corners of imagination and the consequences of living out our most private dreams" – officially opens at Culver City’s Kirk Douglas Theatre this evening (March 24) and runs through April 14.

Patch sat down with director Neel Keller (who is also the associate artistic director of the Center Theatre Group), to talk about working on this unique project, who worked closely with The Nether’s playwright Jennifer Haley, who won the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for this strange and sometimes disturbing work.

Culver City Patch: What is it that drives your passion for theater?

Neel Keller: I don’t know where the energy comes from to be honest. The passion has been there since I first began to work in theater in high school. It’s a fascination with telling stories; and putting the acting, scenery, lighting and costumes together in this dark room with no one watching.  Then…once all is finished, you’re going to let these people into that room and turn on the lights. And this finished product will spool out into what hopefully ends up being a great, compelling story.

Patch: What drew you to The Nether?

Keller: I first read the play about two years ago. I was immediately drawn into it. Jennifer Haley (the playwright) and I had the luxury of working together for those two years. We gathered multiple actors and read the play and we were able to talk about the play ourselves. We faced questions like ‘how are we going to tell this story, what is the most mysterious and fun way we can present it to the audience, how can we change the scenery, moving from one scene to another and then deliver the actors at the right time?’ It was a wonderful process.

Patch: How has it been working with the cast of The Nether?

Keller: Only one of the current cast members had ever done a reading of The Nether before. So for the first week or two I really had more knowledge of the play and proceeded to lead the cast by explaining to them how complicated the play really is. The notion of time and how it flashes back and forth from three separate chronological stories that are all mixed up and happen to overlap. The audience also has to figure that out as the play progresses and the actors had to figure that out as we moved along in the process.  But then a strange thing happened around week two…. The actors latched on and were discovering things that took place in the play that I had not been aware of. And so the process overall has been very interesting.

Patch: Aside from its entertainment value, what do you want the audience to take from the play?

Keller: Well, Jennifer purposely set the play in a setting and time that is potentially disturbing and controversial. I think you spend the first half of the play sorting out the very disturbing nature of some of the actions. The audience will go on to form opinions about the characters, but by the end they will be surprised at just how familiar and recognizable those characters look to themselves. You then may become sympathetic to their human plight. This is the type of magic Jennifer is able to weave throughout the play. I hope the audience truly goes on that journey.

Patch: The local community, and Culver City as a whole have embraced Center Theatre Group and the Kirk Douglas Theatre.  What do you think of the local theater community here?

Keller: I love doing shows here [at the Kirk Douglas Theatre]. I am lucky in that I get to do shows at all three of the theaters with Center Theatre Group. The Taper and the Ahmanson Theatre are both great venues. However, here in Culver City you immediately feel as though you are part of this intimate community. You can walk out the doors and have access to anything you want, and don’t feel the need to have to get into a car to go and get something. And I just absolutely love the fact that of our three theaters the Kirk Douglas is the only one where the doors open directly onto the sidewalk, enabling patrons and guests alike to come in and out and create that sense of community.

Patch: Who are some of the people that have made a lasting impression on your career?

Keller: I have worked with tons of wonderful people throughout my career. That being said, Theater director Robert Woodruff, theater producer Jerome Robbins, and stage director Michal Greif were some of the people who have had an enormous impact on my career.

The Nether opens on March 24 and runs through April 14 at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.

Be sure to like Culver City Patch on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and sign up for our free daily newsletter for email updates.