The Pulitzer Prize-finalist play “4,000 Miles” was supposed to come to London’s West End starring “Dune” actor Timothee Chalamet in 2020, but COVID-19 led to postponements and eventually the cancellation of Chalamet’s debut in May 2022, IndieWire reported.

West End’s loss ended up being Fresno State Theatre’s gain, as “4,000 Miles” will now kick off the 2022-23 mainstage season. 

“Since it would’ve been locked up while they were in production, now the script is available again, and I think we’re one of the first theaters to bring it back,” said longtime Fresno State director Kathleen McKinley.

McKinley came to Fresno State in 1983 and has collected a wide range of directorial credits in the nearly 40 years since, from family dramas to contemporary takes on Shakespeare and other classics. “4,000 Miles” will be her second time bringing a play written by Amy Herzog to University Theatre after directing “The Great God Pan” in March 2017.

She described herself as “very much an admirer of [Herzog’s] work” and noted that Herzog has grown increasingly famous, particularly after recently writing for the limited HBO series “Scenes from a Marriage,” starring Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain.

“She’s had a wonderful career,” McKinley said.

Herzog’s 2013 play “4,000 Miles” tells the story of a young man named Leo who, after suffering a major loss, bikes 4,000 miles across the country to his 91-year-old grandmother Vera’s New York apartment without notice.

Herzog’s work often pays tribute to her grandmother, Leepee Joseph, whom Vera is based on. Vera’s character is particularly dear to McKinley, who referred to her as “having the heart of a much younger woman.” 

To emphasize the real-life accomplishments and personality of Herzog’s grandmother, McKinley is including Joseph’s obituary in programs for the play. The obituary describes Joseph as a “left-wing activist” from a “deeply radical family” and includes descriptions of Joseph’s first arrest for picketing at age 12.

In “4,000 Miles,” both Vera and her grandson Leo identify as progressive but clash over their differences throughout the play, according to McKinley.

“[Vera] is an old school leftist, liberal — a communist, really. And [Leo] is like a new age, Midwestern hippie. So here you have two people who think they’re very progressive but what’s important to them is not the same thing. And I think you’ll find that all the time with generations,” she said.

Fresno State senior Tyler Murphy will play the role of Leo, who he describes as a character “searching for answers.”

“Leo is a very uncertain person, which is odd because… in the years before, he is a very sure, certain, confident person and the events leading up to and throughout the play reestablish the way he thinks about himself,” Murphy said.

It’s a demanding role for Murphy, who will be onstage nearly the entire duration of the play in a performance McKinley referred to as his “tour de force.” 

Murphy said while his previous role in November 2021’s “This Is Our Youth” similarly prepared him to be onstage for long periods of time, the emotional range of Leo’s character has been a tough transition.

“I go through all of these emotions, and they’re really intense. At the end we finish rehearsals, and I’m just exhausted,” he said.

McKinley believes that Fresno State students may relate to those emotions, particularly those still reeling from the pandemic who will be able to relate to the dynamic between Leo and his grandmother after having to worry about older relatives. 

“I hear [this] all the time from my students. ‘It’s not me I’m worried about, but my grandmother.’ So I find the play really relevant [and] a wonderful play to open this new season of theater for us on campus where a lot of the COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed a little bit,” she said.

“4,000 Miles” will be the first production since COVID-19 to no longer require attendees to wear masks and provide proof of vaccination, though McKinley said she still encourages these precautions for everybody.

The play will be performed at the Dennis and Cheryl Woods Theatre beginning Friday, Sept. 30, through Saturday, Oct. 8. Tickets are $17 for general admission, $15 for faculty, staff, seniors, military and alumni and $10 for students.