Amidst all the political frenzy in the air, Next Stage Theatre Company will present a Cold War-themed play, A Walk in the Woods.

The play will be performed at 8 tonight in the State Theatre's studio space. Written by Lee Blessing, the play takes place during the 1988 election, said Next Stage co-artistic director, Jay Shuchter.

A Walk in the Woods is one of three small plays the theater company will present this year. The independent company -- founded in 1996 by Shuchter and other co-artistic director, Mary Skees -- is not affiliated with Penn State or the State Theatre.

The shows are close-up and intense, Skees said.

"It is such a small space that you are literally on the set," Skees said of State Theatre's studio space.

Like the venue, the cast is similarly small with only two members. Shuchter made the analogy Next Stage was the chamber theater as opposed to the symphony orchestra.

"The largest cast we've ever had was nine ... and that was too many," he said. "It's not Rent, it's not Cats, it's not YouTube; but it's basic, live theater, which is rare."

This particular play explores whether or not two men, an American and a Russian arms negotiator, can form a friendship despite being assumed enemies during the American-Russian table negotiations during the Cold War.

"It's almost as if the relationship between the two men parallels the struggle to reach an agreement at the negotiation table," director Norrine Sims said. "It raises questions and brings you into a discussion that seems very personal, but it is about very global experiences."

Lloyd Short, who plays the Russian arms negotiator Andrey Botvinnik, said the play alerts the audience of existing political tensions.

"It will bring the audience back to the realization that even though the politics have shifted the reality of potential nuclear catastrophe remains," he said.

That aside, Short said his character finds a friend in his American counterpart, John Honeyman, and the play ends with a "string of hope."