My Notes on I Need That

• I had been following this show, hearing it was going to open with Danny DeVito and getting a copy of the script to read. But when I looked to get the rights, they weren’t yet available for production. Then I got this email from David Wohl, who I’d worked with 30 years ago at Playhouse, telling me that he and Theresa Rebeck had talked about doing the show in Cincinnati if that’s something I’d consider. Obviously, I wrote back telling him that would be fabulous since I already loved the show! Then, one day, I got a phone call from Theresa Rebeck. THE Theresa Rebeck. She said, “I’d really like to come and direct it there,” which I told her is just the greatest thing ever. This production was a gift to the theatre. And it was a show I would’ve done without the gift of Theresa or David, but what a joy to have them here and a part of it!

• Theresa changed the field for female writers forever. She pioneered a very rough terrain in the film, television, and theatre industries. Her work is just so good. Her writing is so good that it cannot be ignored. One of the most extraordinary things about her is that she doesn’t back down, and her work demonstrates how uncompromising she is. This is not an easy play. Her plays aren’t easy plays. They’re real. And they’re good! She writes with a truth and an honesty that you don’t see coming and that you take with you afterward.

• As I looked at shows for this season with a theme of stepping into someone else’s shoes and reimagining one’s life, I Need That was perfect. The main character Sam is trying to find if the world exists outside his wife, and he’s chosen for it not to. Can he imagine another world for himself? This show is a perfect fit for us. Plus, it allows our spectacular design team with Brian c. Mehring and Shannon Rae Lutz to create the intricate, fascinating, and clutter-filled world that this character has chosen to live in.

• The thing about Sam is that he’s not a hoarder. It’s just that everything he touches is something that has meant something to someone, so he holds on to it all. Sometimes, we seem so caught up in someone’s value being tied to their possessions, their stocks, their bonds, their jewelry. When for Sam, what’s a treasure is everyday, mundane objects. We all have something that is indispensable to us, not because of its monetary value but because of how it was used and treasured.

I can’t wait for you to see this heartfelt, hilarious, and deeply human show!

Join us

Sincerely,