Dobama presents new play by Will Eno

Dobama Theatre continues its 60th Anniversary season with "Wakey, Wakey" by Will Eno. The play runs Oct. 18 through Nov. 10.

The New York Times called the play "profoundly moving,” and Variety described it as "a work of humor, humanity and grace that makes you want to hug your lover, your neighbor and maybe an usher on the way out.” This new play from Pulitzer Prize-nominee Will Eno ("The Realistic Joneses," "Middletown," "Thom Pain") features a guy named Guy who knows, like all of us on some level, that he is about to die. Guy engages the audience in a conversation about life and what is worth celebrating, what is worth treasuring, and what is worth letting go in this moving and hilarious play.

"Wakey, Wakey" is the final piece Eno wrote in his five-year residency with Signature Theatre. He explained that, during his residency, Jim Houghton, the theatre’s artistic director, had been diagnosed with cancer. Trying to comprehend the possibility of losing a close friend, Eno was inspired to write a play that deals with the complexities of dying and loss. In naming the play, Eno said he wanted something that had the sense of “time to get up,” and also of an Irish wake. 

Eno is an American playwright based in Brooklyn, N.Y. His play, "Thom Pain (based on nothing)" was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 2005. Eno’s "The Realistic Joneses" appeared on Broadway in 2014, where it received a Drama Desk Special Award and was named Best Play on Broadway by USA Today, and best American play of 2014 by The Guardian. His play "The Open House" was presented Off-Broadway at the Signature Theatre in 2014 and won the Obie Award for Playwriting as well as other awards, and was on both Time magazine and Time Out New York's Top Ten Plays of 2014.

"Wakey, Wakey" features Jason Martin as Guy and Katrice Headd as Lisa, and is directed by Christopher Mirto.

Performances are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $32–$38. Senior, student and military discounts are available.

For more information and to purchase tickets, call the box office at 216-932-3396, or visit www.dobama.org. The box office is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, noon to 4 p.m., during performance weeks, and one hour before all performances (when all remaining tickets are available at the pay-as-you-can rate). 

In an effort to remove economic barriers and to make Dobama’s productions accessible to everyone, the first Sunday of every production is pay-as-you-can. Sunday, Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m. is the pay-what-you-can performance.