Aubrey Plaza “nervous” but “excited” for her off-Broadway debut

Aubrey Plaza has been in movies and TV shows for years, but this month the Parks and Rec veteran is making her stage debut: She’s starring in the off-Broadway revival of the romantic drama Danny and the Deep Blue Sea.

“It’s my first professional play … so I’m pretty nervous, but I’m excited, too,” the actress tells InStyle.

She adds, “I was attracted to it for a couple of reasons. One, Christopher Abbott, who’s playing Danny in the play opposite me, we’ve worked together before [in Black Bear]. He’s done a lot of theater and I just think he’s one of the best actors around.”

The two-person play was first staged in 1983.

Plaza adds, “I love the character and I love the play. It’s so heartbreaking. It’s a love story and I love love stories.”

That said, there are still butterflies, Aubrey admits. “I’m nervous about doing it in front of an audience. That’s the thing that I’m trying to wrap my head around right now.”

However, a trick she’s adopted in film and TV work is lending itself to her stage debut. “I have this tiny little version of the play with me at all times in every purse,” Plaza tells the magazine.

“I’ve been carrying it around with me for months. It’s completely battered and falling apart, but it’s kind of romantic, and I sleep with it next to me. It’s been to multiple countries at this point.”

She reveals, “I’m like that with scripts. I keep them around, so that they’re kind of always lingering in the background for me, so that I am doing unconscious work on it or something. I’m always thinking about it.”

The performer adds, “I can’t have a purse that’s too small, because I need to fit the play.”