Full-Length Comedy • No Intermission
4M, 2W, 1 Any Gender
When Nina enters her first air guitar competition, she thinks winning will be easy. But as she befriends a group of charismatic nerds all committed to becoming the next champion, she discovers that there’s more to this art form than playing pretend; it’s about finding yourself in your favorite songs, and performing with raw joy. Wshoill Nina be able to let go and set herself free onstage? Following her mission to shred or be shredded, AIRNESS is an exuberant reminder that everything we need to rock is already inside us.
AIRNESS premiered at the 41st Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville in 2017. Meredith McDonough directed the production.
AIRNESS (Actors Theatre of Louisville)
All photos by Bill Brymer
Directed by Meredith McDonough | Scenic Design – Deb O. | Costume Design – Alison Siple | Lighting Design – Paul Toben | Featuring – Marinda Anderson, Matt Burns, Angelina Impellizzeri, Nate Miller, Lucas Papaelias, Marc Pierre, and Brian Quijada
AIRNESS (Chautauqua Theatre Company)
All photos by Dave Munch
Directed by Joshua Kahan Brody | Scenic Design – William Boles | Costume Design – Mary Eggers | Lighting Design – Scott Bolman | Featuring – Matt Burns, Octavia Chavez-Richmond, Jerrie Johnson, Elijah Jones, Jake Ryan Lozano, David Rosenberg, and James Smart.
AWARDS
Winner of the 2018 M. Elizabeth Osborn New Play Award, given by the American Theatre Critics Association.
REVIEWS
“The most fun you will have at the theater this year … to call this play a “crowd pleaser” is a drastic understatement.” – Insider Louisville
“Among the most heralded new plays of late last decade… Marcantel has a marvelous ear for speech, both in the competitors’ banter, and in captivating monologues when they set down their invisible guitars and talk about what truly drives them.” – TwinCities.com
“Unmitigated pleasure… filled with dignity and delight.” – Chicago Reader
“If you are looking for an amazing piece of theatre that will get you on your feet tapping, wailing and clapping in mid-air – while also moving you to reflect on and care for yourself – look no further; this bad boy is for you.” – Santa Barbara Independent
“An all-out comedy that’s fricking funny, hella heartfelt, and badass brilliant.” — DC Metro
“‘Airness’ stays with the viewer after the last guitar chord has faded because of the way its complex layers ask the question ‘what is real?’ when it comes to families, groups, and societies.” — HowlRound
“The play never condescends … the most smile-inducing play I’ve seen in quite a while.” – Indianapolis Business Journal
“Watching this joyous physicality, we understand how these oddball characters find fulfillment and catharsis in rockin’ out on nonexistent frets and strings.” — The Washington Post
“Takes the surface ridiculousness of air guitar and embraces it, amplifies it, and then reveals the yearning, magic, and — yes — artistry beneath the veneer.” – WFPL.org
“In a word, dazzling … the most talked-about production of this year’s Humana Festival.” – LEO Weekly
“A fabulous play about the joy of pretending … both funny and filled with heart.” – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“I love this play… it’s that ‘finding your people story,’ it’s a sports underdog story, and it takes all of the things that you recognize from that, and it does them so beautifully.” – American Theatre Podcast
“Quite possibly my favorite play of the entire festival… Deep and heartfelt for something so superficial. I’m sold.” – The Inexplicable Dumb Show Podcast
“They say that we can keep our brains active by learning a new thing every day. Do yourself a favor by heading to The Sofia and learning about air guitar. You’ll have great fun in the process.” – The Davis Enterprise
““Airness” is a refreshing and satisfying quest to understand and achieve airness — that purest, untainted form of joy and happiness — and its message will appeal to air guitarists and non air guitarists alike.” – The Sacramento Bee
“Go to see AIRNESS and get back to one of your first loves, to discover that indescribable quality, that “airness,” which each of us has buried deep inside.” – Buffalo Rising
BUY // LICENSE
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Representation
ICM Partners
Di Glazer (Theatre)
DGlazer@icmpartners.com