So, you take a bunch of high school students in Oconomowoc, mix them up with an arts festival in Scotland, an Iranian playwright and some of the biggest names in Milwaukee’s acting community and here’s what you get:

One of the most interesting string of performances you will have a chance to see in this area for a long time.

Let’s go back to the beginning.

Tom Klubertanz is a Milwaukee professional actor and also the theater director at Oconomowoc High School.

His drama program at the school was chosen by the American High School Theatre festival to produce a play at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, a prestigious honor for a high school. Over 2,000 high school programs applied and only 40 were chosen.

The high school group sends directors the the festival a year in advance so they can get a feel for what happens. Klubertanz went in 2014.

"One of the plays I got to see while in Edinburgh was a ground breaking new play by an Iranian playwright, Nassim Soleimanpour's ‘White Rabbit Red Rabbit’" he said.  "It was truly the most remarkable experience I have ever had in a theatre.  Hand's down, amazing."

The play, written by Soleimanpour when he was only 29 years old is about  many things, but primarily the subject of obedience.  As a consequence of him being a conscientious objector and refusing to serve in the military of his own country, he was unable to receive a passport thus making him for all purposes a prisoner in his own country.  

He decided to write about that experience, and that exploration is "White Rabbit Red Rabbit."

The unusual part of this play is that it is played by a new actor each night. The actor is given the script in a sealed envelope right before the performance. The actor opens the envelope, pulls out the script, and we are off and running. No director, no set, no lights, no rehearsal, just words and an actor. And an audience.

"The actor unseals the envelope in front of the audience, and then proceeds to "perform" the play, which is basically like a reading as the actor reads from the script they are given.  Thus the actor and audience experience the author's words simultaneously as the actor performs the piece.  Each night a new actor takes on the challenge of performing the play, so it really changes every time it is performed based on the actor and audience's responses."

Klubertanz was so floored that he send an email to the playwright who responded. They kept going back and forth and the end result was that Soleimanpour agreed to let the Oconomowoc program stage the play and would waive royalties for the performance.

Klubertanz went to work, lining up a high-powered group of actors to perform the play, which is a fundraiser to help the kids pay for their trip next summer. Included in the lineup are Angela Iannone, Marti Gobel, APT’s Brian Mani and Michael Duncan, the director of the Oconomowoc Arts Center.

"The show will be performed 8 times at the Oconomowoc Arts Center main stage," Klubertanz said.  "We are setting up a black box style stage on the existing stage, with seating for 200 patrons each evening"  

The actors and dates they perform are: Michael Duncan, Jan. 15; Marti Gobel, Jan. 16; Karl Miller, Jan. 17; Angela Iannone, Jan. 18; Michael Herold, Jan. 22; Brian Mani, Jan. 23; Marcy Kearns, Jan. 24; Jessica Lanius and Tyler Merchant, Jan. 25. Sunday shows start at 4 p.m. and all the others begin at 7:30.

This whole thing is clearly worthwhile, but it also sounds like the kind of theater experience that rarely comes along. Information about tickets and the play can be found here.