The UNC Charlotte Department of Theatre presents The Aliens, by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker, in an innovative outdoor production October 14 -23. One of four plays that Baker has set in the fictional town of Shirley, Vermont, The Aliens peers in on the conversations and interactions of three young men in the alleyway behind a coffeehouse. Praised as “gentle and extraordinarily beautiful” by The New York Times, The Aliens won the 2010 Obie Award for Best New American Play.
Still in her 30s, Annie Baker has been consistently praised for her acute ear for speech, with its sounds and its silences, and her generous and empathetic portrayal of flawed characters – “real” people. Mixing humor and pathos, her work creates “an opportunity for transcendence,” says The New Yorker. Baker won a Pulitzer Prize in 2014 for The Flick and has received numerous awards and fellowships, including a Guggenheim Fellowship.
The title, The Aliens, is both a reference to a poem by Charles Bukowski, whose poetry and philosophies the characters admire, and a suggested name for their fledgling band. As the three men sing, argue, smoke, and contemplate, this play with music leads its audience through territories of human experience – friendship, art, love, and death.
Performances will take place in the Arts Quad behind Robinson Hall on the UNC Charlotte campus, beginning at 6:00 pm on October 14-15 and 20-22 and at 2:00 pm on October 16 and 23. Tickets are $18; $12 for UNC Charlotte faculty, staff, and alumni; $10 for seniors; and $8 for all students.