The Nether

The Nether is a masterfully written contemporary play, focusing on one of the most burning problems of the modern civilisation – paedophilia in the virtual world; in so doing, it opens a myriad of “subquestions”, from the dark layers of the virtual “miracle world” to the questions of freedom, identity and of course responsibility for the consequences of our actions and lives. In this provocative and deeply disturbing drama, the author asks if it is truly possible to live out everything in the virtual world, including paedophilia and crime, without it having an effect on reality. Actually, the author goes even further, opening the moral-ethical dilemma: is it better for paedophiles to freely and without censure live out their proclivities in the virtual world, or is it essential to ban their activity and thus risk that they will take it into the real world, as the play’s central character, Mr Sims, retorts to the detective. The Nether is thus at the same time a psychological thriller about the dark facets of human nature and a classic crime story about the underground of the virtual world, where morals and ethics have dissipated into nonthingness.
American playwright Jennifer Haley primarily deals with the ethics of personal relationships, identities and longings. She won the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Award for the best play for The Nether in 2012, the Ovation Award in Los Angeles and the Francesca Primus Prize. The play was first produced in 2013 at the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, followed by stagings in London, New York, San Francisco ...

Development of THE NETHER was supported by the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center during a residency at the National Playwrights Conference 2011, Preston Whiteway, Executive Director, Wendy Goldberg, Artistic Director. Developed at the Lark Play Development Center, NYC.
Center Theatre Group/Kirk Douglas Theatre, Michael Ritchie, Artistic Director, produced the World Premiere of THE NETHER in Los Angeles, CA in 2013.
New York Premiere at the MCC Theater February 24, 2015.
Artistic Directors: Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, & William Cantler. Executive Director: Blake West