North Carolina Stage Company continues its 2025–26 season with Is This A Room, a tense and unconventional play created by Tina Satter that reenacts the FBI interrogation of Reality Winner, the former Air Force linguist convicted of leaking classified information in 2017. Every word in the production is drawn directly from the transcript of that interrogation, creating a gripping theatrical experience.
Artistic director Charlie Flynn-McIver says the authenticity of the text is essential to the production’s impact. “Many of the reactions to the play have noted what a significant sense of urgency and suspense the mundane nature of the text pulls forth,” he says. “Way more than you might expect.”
Flynn-McIver says NC Stage was drawn to the play because of its ability to provoke thought and conversation. “We often choose plays that illuminate the human condition and don’t necessarily provide easy answers for what we go through as humans,” he says. “We are attracted to plays that people tend to talk about days afterward. And in our current political climate it’s interesting to see this dynamic between a citizen and the legal machine as it runs its course.”
While the play is based on factual material, Flynn-McIver emphasizes that it transcends typical documentary storytelling. “This play is hard to define,” he says. “It’s not quite a documentary, which usually has some editing and narration or some sort of narrative drive through the selection and omission of scenes from the real event. This is a real-time, word-for-word presentation of the interview.” He adds that the production design enhances the realism without overshadowing the words. “Lights, sound, set and props will fill out some of the world, but the focus is on the actual words and how the net tightens around Reality during the course of the play.”
Is This A Room runs Wednesday, November 5, through Sunday, November 23. Performances are held Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays and select Fridays at 2 p.m. Choose-Your-Price performances take place November 5—7, and there will be an opening night champagne toast on Saturday, November 8. Tickets range from $24–$48, with student tickets available for $10 for those under 18 or with ID.
NC Stage Company is located at 15 Stage Lane, Asheville. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit NCStage.org or call the box office at 828.239.0263.
