Theater Review: The Nether

SARASOTA – The Matrix meets Westworld in Jennifer Haley's The Nether, the season debut production from the Florida Studio Theatre's Stage III series, which opened Friday in the Bowne's Lab Theatre.

Set in the near future, the nether is the name for the evolution of the internet, which has become a completely immersive virtual reality experience in which a person plugs in and experiences life there as if it is happening in real-time.

Everything from job training to college courses has largely been relegated to the virtual world of the nether, where people also receive the bulk of their entertainment in a dystopian future in which the physical world has become increasingly bleak. Some people have become so enamored with the world of the nether that they've gone to great lengths to disappear there permanently, even putting their physical bodies on life support, while they're gone.

Sims has constructed a space in the nether known as the Hideaway, where customers can come and live out their most sordid fantasies. A self-admitted pedophile, Sims caters to those like him and claims it gives them an opportunity to satiate a compulsive, incurable sickness without hurting an actual person.

Haley's play asks uncomfortable questions about the ethics of behavior in the virtual world and whether conventional morality has a place there.

William Thomas Evans gives a larger than life performance as Sims, or Papa as he's known in the nether. New York City-based actor Anique Clements is rivetingly intense as Morris, the agent investigating the Hideaway and threatening to cut off Sims' access to the nether.

FST favorite Sam Mossler gives a poignant performance as Doyle, a teacher who's become obsessed with life in the nether, at the expense of his real-world family and career. Leah Greene is fabulous as Iris, the virtual pre-pubescent that serves as Papa's most prized attraction. Eric Gilde does a solid job as Agent Woodnut, who's undercover as a client in the Hideaway.

Directed by Jason Cannon, The Nether is an intense look at a worthy topic that makes for a good post-show conversation starter. It runs through February 7. Visit the FST website for more information.