At the comedy's center are Marion Cheever, a middle-aged, overweight, debt-ridden, divorced father of two who mistakenly has been called by the draft, and Sergeant Thech, a no-nonsense female examining officer.
[1] Starting out as an amusing incident, Cheever ends up showing "hatred and contempt" for his country.
[2] The original version of Next premiered at the White Barn Theatre, Westport, Connecticut on July 16, 1967.
[2][4] Paired with Elaine May's Adaptation,[5] Next opened Off-Broadway on February 10, 1969, at the Greenwich Mews Theatre,[6] where it ran for 707 performances.
[9] Clive Barnes, reviewing for the New York Times, wrote that the two plays "are just plain marvelous-funny, provocative and, in their way, touching".