Explaining his college pivot from pre-med to dramatic writing, playwright Lucas Hnath has said the decision was partly influenced by his love of reading “very heady theorists.” So it’s no surprise that the title of his newest play comes from Jean Baudrillard, a French post-structuralist. In the book Simulation and Simulacra (1981), Baudrillard defined “simulacra” as the symbols and representations that have eclipsed—and consequently stand in for—reality. Co-written with Steve Cuiffo, A Simulacrum sees a magician named Steve revealing tricks to a playwright named Lucas. This is the play’s world premiere. —Jensen Davis