Nebraska Repertory Theatre presents ‘The Flick’
calendar icon28 Feb 2024
Lincoln, Neb.--The Nebraska Repertory Theatre presents “The Flick” by Annie Baker Feb. 29-March 9 in the Studio Theatre. For showtimes and tickets, visit https://nebraskarep.org.
“The Flick” received the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and won the 2013 Obie Award for Playwriting. It intimately captures the lives of three underpaid employees working at a run-down movie theater in Massachusetts. Through quiet moments, awkward interactions and profound silences, Baker’s masterful storytelling exposes the complexities of human relationships, loneliness and the search for connection in the digital age.
“’The Flick’ is about the stories that often go unheard,” said Sofia Drelicharz, a sophomore acting major from Omaha, Nebraska. “It is a mundane yet dramatic and honest story of three workers who are overlooked in an environment where people care about the fantastical fiction of a movie. It pulls back the curtains and lets the audience be a fly on the wall and be interested in people who otherwise would be forgotten.”
Director Jamie Bullins, who is associate professor of theatre in the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, said silence is used profoundly in the play.
“Sometimes silence says the most in an interaction,” he said. “So much information passes through the space between. It’s definitely the truth here.”
Mekhi Mitchell, a senior acting major from Omaha, Nebraska, said the silence in the play is interesting.
“The silence is where the story really shines,” he said. “These characters are all going through so much outside of this theater, and they all deal with things that the others have no idea about. When I think about the silence in Avery’s case I imagine a dialogue between him currently and the version of him that he wants to become.”
Mitchell plays Avery Newton Sharpe, a 20-year-old student who is obsessed with film.
“He goes to Clarke University but is taking this current semester off and working at The Flick while he is back home with his dad,” Mitchell said. “Avery deals with depression and struggles socially with making friends. He has a lot to offer to the world, but he gets in the way of himself too often to see how special he really is.”
Drelicharz said her character, Rose, is a wild card.
“She is bold and abrasive and loud,” she said. “She is so much fun to learn about and discover. However, the thing about this story is that every character is very flawed. She’s no exception, so the challenge is to see her and her shortcomings and to empathize anyway. To understand that no real human is a storybook hero, and to find the interest and heart in a flawed character.”
Drelicharz said she loves how close to film the story is.
“It’s a story for people who love films and theaters, and it’s also for people who don’t,” she said. “The script calls for honesty in performances and subtlety. That’s my favorite type of acting, and I’m so excited to be able to perform like that on a stage.”
Bullins said audiences should expect to meet people they recognize in the characters in the play.
“They know them, heck they may be them,” he said. “And it’s a good story about growth and the struggle with everyday of being people.”
Bullins said his actors are invested in these characters.
“They believe in this play, this story, and want so bad to share it,” he said. “You don’t want to miss it. These are some of the most honest performances you’re going to see this year.”
Mitchell said the performances are truthful.
“There is nothing in this show that can be faked,” he said. “Everything, especially with Avery, has to be truthful or it will not work. Annie Baker chose these characters because they aren't given the spotlight enough, and the only way to succeed is to represent them as truthfully as humanly possible.”