Jim Santelle

Your role in NEXT FALL:

Butch

Briefly tell us a little about yourself (job, hobbies, passions, unique talents, etc).

When I am not in the employ of a western government, I find myself reading and writing—but not doing arithmetic. Away from papers and pencils, I also swim and run—always toward things.

Have you worked with Tt before?

I am delighted to be working with Tt for the first time, in this special production about revelation, ruin, and restoration.

Tell us a little bit about your character in NEXT FALL.

Butch, Luke’s father and the former spouse of Arlene (about whom he cares a whole lot more than he lets on) appears at first viewing as a singularly one-dimensional person whose life is defined in bright lines and animated by simple trusts. In tragedy, he begins—perhaps too late—to understand the gray areas and appreciate the unsettled places that we actually inhabit.

What do you appreciate most about NEXT FALL?

A spectacular cast of fellow actors, an inspiring directorial and production team, and a prize-winning story—simple and compelling—that will have audiences talking well into the evening and over breakfast the following day.

Why should audiences come see NEXT FALL?

In her 1996 writing, “Necessary Losses,” Judith Viorst confirms that none of us can be genuinely human without some measures of losing and leaving and letting go. Geoffrey Nauffts plays expertly with that theme and others about the nature and the boundaries of relationship while also telling a supremely engaging—and, yes, downright funny—story.