By Nick Hart
Directed by Rodolfo Robles Cruz
Gentlemen. This Emergency Session of The United States Congress has begun. FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS: WE HAVE TO pass a budget for the next fiscal year by midnight tonight. We currently have a 487 quadrillion dollar deficit. Everyone in this room tonight needs to look inside their hearts and collectively find or raise 487 quadrillion dollars by midnight, which AGAIN is within the next… 82 minutes or we’ll all be executed gangland style in the back alley. Ok? (A play about why we’re the greatest country in the world.)
Performances
February 28 at 2:00 p.m.
March 6 at 7:00 p.m.
March 8 at 7:00 p.m.
Learn more about UTNT (UT New Theatre) 2026 here
About the Playwright
Nick Hart (he/him) is an alumni company member of Playmakers Laboratory, a non-profit theater and education organization serving Chicago Public School students. He performed regularly in their flagship show That's Weird Grandma for over a decade. He is also an alumni company member with The Neo-Futurists. He has written and performed over 350 short plays for The Neo-Futurists for their flagship show The Infinite Wrench from 2015-2023. He is the creator of The Neo-Futurists productions of Remember The Alamo, 60 Songs in 60 Minutes and the co-writer of the Jeff nominated production of Wildcats with Ida Cuttler. Hart graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a B.A. in Theater in 2010. He is a M.F.A. in Theatre candidate with a specialization in playwriting at The University of Texas at Austin.
About the director
Rodolfo Robles Cruz (he/him) is a director, playwright and play-maker from Morelia, Michoacán Mexico with strong roots in Fresno, California. He is a Latinx Theatre Specialist holding knowledge and experience of Teatro Campesino, Theatre of the Oppressed and Devised Theatre. His work is visceral and highly physical; he has a keen interest in how bodies react on stage in both ensemble based work, or intimate small cast plays. Select credits include Oedipus el Rey (2022) with the Selma Arts Center; Anna in the Tropics (2023) with Madera Theatre Company; Sanctuary City (2024) with Texas Theatre and Dance. His original play, La Norteña, was the 2020 winner of Region 8's National Playwriting Program's One Act Category, and was most recently produced with Teatro Espejo in Sacramento, California. He graduated CSU, Fresno in 2020 and is currently a graduate student at The University of Texas at Austin pursuing a M.F.A. in Theatre (Directing).
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