Next Act Theatre presents THE CHILDREN

Brian Mani, Mary MacDonald Kerr, and Shariba Rivers in Next Act Theatre's production of THE CHILDREN, through March 9, 2025. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

By Mary Boyle

Milwaukee’s Marie Kohler is a playwright, writer, director, producer, and the co-founder of Renaissance TheaterWorks, which shares space with Next Act Theatre in downtown Milwaukee.  One thing she hasn’t done is direct a production for Next Act, but this season is her chance. Kohler makes her directorial debut with British playwright Lucy Kirkwood’s 2017 Tony Award winning play THE CHILDREN, which runs through March 9th in downtown Milwaukee.

Kohler says The Children evokes the ancient Haudenosaunee/Iroquois philosophy that the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future and, at its heart, I must agree.  In the story, we meet a retired couple, Hazel (Mary MacDonald Kerr) and Robin (Brian Mani), who are now trying to live a healthy life in a cottage by the sea in the aftermath of a nuclear meltdown at the plant where they once both worked.  When their old coworker, Rose (Shariba Rivers), pays them a visit after many years away, Hazel and Robin both wonder at what the reason for her appearance could possibly be.  While their individual relationships with Rose form the basis of their conclusions, Rose’s true purpose is one they couldn’t possibly have guessed.

Kirkwood is a playwright who likes to focus on relationships – so much so that they can feel distracting or misleading to the main narrative of her stories.  The realness and rawness of her character’s emotions can, at times, make the audience uncomfortable, yet the main narrative – what kind of world are we leaving our children and how are we responsible for that – is always there to fall back on when the relationships get messy.  Just like real life.

The acting in this production is top notch.  Brian Mani (King Lear and more at American Players Theatre this past summer) and Mary MacDonald Kerr (MCT’s Christmas in Babylon and Director for The Mousetrap last season at Next Act) are Wisconsin theatre royalty, and you can see why in this production.  Shariba Rose, a Chicago-based actor, is as impressive and effortless as her cast members.  Combined with an amazing set design by Jeffrey D. Kmiec, The Children is a worthy offering from Next Act.
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THE CHILDREN runs through March 9th, 2025, at the artistic home of Next Act Theatre, located at 255 S. Water Street in Milwaukee.  Tickets may be purchased by calling (414) 278-0765 or online at www.nextact.org.
 
About Next Act Theatre
Since 1990, Next Act Theatre has been engaging the hearts and minds of audiences with intimate, compelling productions intended to stimulate thought, foster the exchange of ideas, and promote the development of new perspectives and understanding.  Next Act believes that stories work best when they involve characters in the midst of a struggle or a quest. Audiences identify with them, becoming emotionally and intellectually invested. The character’s situation, tragedy or triumph becomes the audiences’ to endure, mourn or celebrate. The theatre proves itself, then, as essential to the nourishment of our human spirit by bringing us together to examine, experience and explore the human condition, perhaps coming away with knowledge and perspective that only a good story can deliver.