Preview: Kings of America

As a child in grade school, Sean Patrick Nill was a history buff, and he “totally consumed the Hollywood version of it.” Now 26, he’s more consumed with the real version of history and what we do with the knowledge we have of it.

An actor, singer, dancer and playwright, Sacramentan Nill has written a historically based play in which a teenage boy who’s going through some hard times has recurring dreams involving previous presidents of the United States. What he learns from these nocturnal encounters reveals to him both the flaws and the positive attributes of these legends, and helps him understand himself a little better, too.

This production comes as the result of crosstown talent trade between Sacramento Theatre Company and the B Street Theatre. Last year, Nill completed a playwriting internship at B Street (he’s now an artistic associate there) and STC “has a commitment to produce new works by local artists,” says STC Executive Producing Director Michael Luan.

So here’s Nill’s play, a perfect fit with STC’s 2017-2018 season theme of “Fate, Fantasy & Forgiveness.”