BINGEN — Big Britches Productions, a 501(c)(3) community theater in Bingen, Washington, will present Jerome Bixby’s “The Man From Earth,” adapted by Richard Schenkman and directed by Joe Garoutte, running Oct. 2-17 at The Bingen Theater.
It starts as an ordinary goodbye party. A beloved history professor is abruptly packing up and moving on, and his closest friends have gathered for one last night together before he goes. But an offhand remark spirals into a confession none of them saw coming: he claims to have walked the earth for more than 14,000 years, quietly reinventing himself every decade so no one notices he never ages.
What begins as a joke his friends can’t let go of soon turns into an all-night interrogation, as the group of mostly professors throws everything they have at him: logic, knowledge, science, disbelief. His story proves as impossible to disprove as it is to verify, and the play builds to an electric blend of sci-fi and realism, asking far more questions than it answers.
Conceived by science fiction writer Bixby, known for classic episodes of “Star Trek” and “The Twilight Zone,” the story was completed shortly before his death in 1998 and became his final great work.
The production is recommended for audiences 12 and up. While there is no objectionable material, younger viewers may find the plot difficult to follow.
“The Man From Earth” runs 90 minutes with no intermission. The theater opens 60 minutes before curtain, with the bar open during that time. Seating opens 30 minutes before the show. Tickets are $23 for seniors and students and $25 for adults, and are on sale now, along with flex passes.
Audience members are invited to stay after the performance for an informal chat with the cast, with the bar reopening following the show.
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