On an island in the Pacific Northwest, the community gathers to address the disappearance of the local orca pod. Friendships fray, tumors grow, new love blooms, wood is chopped, poems are written. The seasons change. Will the whales ever return?
In its spareness and dreamy drift from fragmentary scene to direct address, director Arin Arbus’s superbly focused and balanced production inevitably brings to mind Our Town, but with ecological dread and greater social anomie. The ghost of Thornton Wilder surely perched on Koogler’s shoulder during the composition. This current production remounts the one Clubbed Thumb premiered in Summerworks two years ago and remains a model of less-is-more eloquent restraint.
Koogler’s brilliant play captures a fundamental contradiction at the center of modern living — our yearning to engage with those around us as well as our fear that we might be rejected or dismissed. Deep Blue Sound is a perceptive parable for our divided age, a reminder that those who work up the gumption to try to save the whales may have a better target far closer to home: themselves.
| 2025 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play | Maryann Plunkett |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Play | Abe Koogler |
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