I NEED THAT Comes to Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati

Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati will kick off the new year with the regional premiere comedy I Need That, by award-winning playwright Theresa Rebeck (Bad Dates, NBC’s Smash). Rebeck, a Cincinnati native and Broadway’s most-produced female playwright, will also direct this new hilarious, heartfelt, and human play about a curmudgeonly father, his exasperated daughter, his patient Best Friend, and life’s messes. Following its successful Broadway run, I Need That takes the ETC stage February 8 – March 2, 2025.

Sam doesn’t get out much. Actually, he doesn’t get out at all, opting instead for the safety of his house in the company of his things—his many, many things. But when a notice from the government arrives alerting Sam that he must clean up his property or face eviction, he’s forced to reckon with what’s trash, what’s treasure, and whether we can ever know the difference between the two.

“I got a phone call one day from Theresa Rebeck . . . THE Theresa Rebeck and she said, ‘I’d like to direct this play at ETC’,” says Producing Artistic Director D. Lynn Meyers. “It feels like this show was gifted to us at the right time and with the right people. Theresa pioneered very rough terrain in the film, television, and theatre industry and has changed the face of female writers forever. Her writing is so good that it cannot be ignored.”

About the Cast 

David Wohl (Sam) makes his Ensemble Theatre debut with this production. He has been an actor for more than fifty years, working on and off Broadway, in regional theaters, in movies, and on television. He recently played the filmmaker Eroll Morris in Rob Ackerman's play Dropping Gumballs on Luke Wilson, directed by Theresa Rebeck at the Working Theater in New York. Some of his film credits include Terms of Endearment and Revenge of the Nerds.

Kenneth Early (Foster) was last seen at the Ensemble Theatre in Who All Over There?, as well as Pipeline, Red Velvet, Around the World in 80 Days, The Whipping Man, and Grey Gardens, among others. He has been seen regionally at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and the Human Race Theatre Company in Dayton, Ohio. He is a member of SAG-AFTRA, and his film credits include White Noise, Miles Ahead, UFO, Chain of Command, Dark Waters, and Dusk.

Maggie Lou Rader (Amelia) was last seen at the Ensemble Theatre as Lizzie in Maytag Virgin. She attended William Jewell College, Oxford University, and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. She has performed regionally with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Human Race Theatre Company, Florida Studio Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare
 

Festival, The Kitchen Theatre, Know Theatre of Cincinnati, and Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Some of her favorite credits include The Pilot in Grounded, Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, June in Alabaster, and Marie Antoinette in The Revolutionists. She’s also a national award-winning playwright and resident artist at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.

Production Team: Brian c. Mehring (Resident Scenic & Lighting Designer), Hannah Dringenburg (Costume Designer), Fitz Patton (Sound Designer), Shannon Rae Lutz (Properties Curator & Design Assistant), and Jacob Dowell (Technical Director). Production Stage Manager is Lexi Muller. Assistant Stage Manager is Abby Sauer.

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