The Improbables (An Unlikely Comedy) Definitely Offers a Good Show at Magnetic 375

While other people and literary works may have inspired Steven Samuels as he wrote The Improbables (An Unlikely Comedy), he would tell you that none of them can be held accountable for what he has created: a work of an absurdist nature. Making its world premiere at Magnetic 375, The Improbables will surprise audience members in performances March 17 through April 9, posing the question, “Haven’t you noticed that what you expect is what doesn’t happen, and that what can’t be is precisely what is?”

A few years ago, Steven (who also directs the show) and his wife Lisa Yoffee, head writer of Magnetic Theatre’s How-to Series, played what they called “The Dialogue Game,” during which they emailed each other one line of dialogue at a time with no direction.

“About a half-dozen pages in, she was done with it, says Steven, “but I was more than a little intrigued. I asked if I could take it and run with it, and she gave her permission, but … she bears no responsibility for the results. It took me six years to get around to radically rewriting and extending it into a full-length play.” Steven says his literary inspirations include Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, and Jean Genet.

Set in present day, the play takes place in the wreck of a mansion on a mountain in Asheville. When an accountant named Wayne Dubrisky (played by Art Moore) visits the mansion to interview for a job with a woman named Marilyn, he is baffled when he encounters a mysterious young woman named Miranda DeSoto (played by Hallee Hirsh) and an even more enigmatic older man who calls himself the Captain. Moment by moment, they shift who they are and what they do.

Three characters are listed in the program as Wayne Dubrisky, Miranda DeSoto, and Phil Pines. Steven, who plays the role of Phil, is careful not to disclose the identities of the Captain or Marilyn. If you’re a bit confused, then good. As the Captain says, “I mean, if all you can think of is what’s possible or probable, your thinking’s too narrow for all we know there is! Impossible creatures who live on the ocean’s deepest floor! Molecules that can only form at the farthest reaches of interstellar space! That my body’s so filled with bacteria, there’s more of them than me! Come on! Not possible! But true!”

Magnetic 375 is located at 375 Depot Street in the River Arts District in Asheville. Tickets for preview shows on March 17–18 are $16 advance, $19 at the door. Tickets for regular shows are $21 in advance $24 at the door, and $10 student rush tickets are available (with student ID) 15 minutes before each show. Performances run Thursday through Saturday. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. nightly. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit themagnetictheatre.org.