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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

‘It’s risky, but it’s also exciting’: Troy Nickerson, Chris Jensen pair together to form new independent theater company, Theater on the Verge

By Audrey Overstreet For The Spokesman-Review

Troy Nickerson and Chris Jensen first met more than 20 years ago when Jensen wrote theater reviews for Spokane’s short-lived, now-defunct progressive newspaper, “The Local Planet.” But the pair truly bonded years later, in 2015, when Nickerson directed Jensen in the controversial play “Equus” at Stage Left Theater.

“That was my first time really getting to work with Troy, and the remarkable thing about him was how open to collaboration he is,” Jensen said. “He allows the play to reveal itself in rehearsal … It’s unusual, as a director, he doesn’t impose anything … He lets the best ideas emerge.”

Nickerson also recalled bonding with Jensen during “Equus,” a play about a child psychiatrist trying to treat a young man with a pathological and religious obsession with horses. That arts collaboration marked the beginning of a strong friendship.

“It was kind of before Stage Left was really anchored yet, and it was new and exciting, with packed houses and a good time,” Nickerson said. “And then Chris left again.”

But now Jensen – who has worked as a theater critic in San Francisco, an English teacher in Istanbul and a copywriter for multi-national companies – has moved back home. And this time he is putting down creative roots. He and Nickerson, who has directed dozens of plays and musicals locally, recently announced they are starting their own theater company they are calling Theater on the Verge.

“The name indicates that sense of adventure and mystery, like there’s a precipice and you don’t know what’s coming next,” Jensen said. “Plus, if we have a nervous breakdown, it’ll be on brand.”

“We’re on the verge of losing our homes,” cracked Nickerson.

The business partners are on the verge of something, all right. Since announcing the opening of Theater on the Verge on social media, their post has been liked and shared hundreds of times.

“I mean, all the support was shocking, and it really was so incredibly moving,” Nickerson said.

The key word describing Theater on the Verge is “independent,” according to Jensen.

“We are doing this on our own and with our own money,” Jensen said. “It’s risky, but it’s also exciting … We love the freedom to make our own decisions.”

The first play the pair has chosen to produce is “Every Brilliant Thing,” a one-man show by British playwright Duncan Macmillan. Veteran Spokane actor Doug Dawson will take on the role of the main character, known as the Storyteller. Early on in the play, the Storyteller portrays himself as a young child who learns that his mother has tried to commit suicide. In response, the youth starts a simple list of everyday positive, or “brilliant,” things that makes life worth living, which he shares with his mother in a desperate attempt to convince her not to take her own life.

As the Storyteller grows older over the years, so does the list of brilliant things, which becomes a vital tool among the Storyteller’s own coping mechanisms when dealing with death, disappointment and falling in and out of love. It’s also a life lesson for the audience.

“It’s the funniest play I’ve ever read about depression,” Jensen said.

Dawson has played a range of side-splitting characters, including the evil headmaster in Spokane Civic Theatre’s “Matilda the Musical,” a hula-dancing soldier in Spokane Valley Summer Theater’s “South Pacific” and currently Dougie the Elf in SVST’s “Big Band Christmas” show this weekend. He has also appeared in nationally released films and television series, including “Z Nation.”

“I know Doug is very funny, but when I first thought of him for this, I thought more of his heart than his humor,” Nickerson said. “I like just the simpleness of him, and his really lovely, clear storytelling.”

“Right after we sent the script to Doug, he read it and said: ‘I’m a wreck. I’m in!’” Nickerson added.

The play resonates deeply with Theater on the Verge co-founder Jensen, who served as a counselor for a suicide hotline when he lived in Los Angeles.

“I know that dark place, and I know a lot of people who know that dark place,” Jensen said. “Our best instinct often is to try to drag someone out of it. But the best thing you can do is actually to sit with someone and honor where they are, let them be where they are, and just to sit with them.”

“This play oddly brings a joy in some ways by teaching us to really dig in and reach for what is brilliant in our lives,” Nickerson added. “And maybe that can help us out of it, to search for the brilliant things.”