Taming Of The Shrew - Written by William Shakespeare - Directed by Dorothy Clifton
In Shakespeare's
The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio and Kate engage in a battle of wits as he tries to "tame" his bold and stubborn wife and bring her into line with society's expectations. This romantic farce, full of disguises and role playing, deals with themes such as marriage and duty, reality and illusion, and compromise.
The Taming of the Shrew is one of William Shakespeare's most clever and sophisticated comedies.
September 2010
Bad Year For Tomatoes - Written by John Patrick - Directed by John Riehl
Fed up with the pressures and demands of her acting career, the famous Myra Marlowe leases a house in the tiny New England hamlet of Beaver Haven and settles down to write her autobiography. She is successful in turning aside the offers pressed on her by her long-time agent, but dealing with her nosy, omnipresent neighbors is a different matter. In an attempt to shoo them away, and gain some privacy, Myra invents a mad, homicidal sister—who is kept locked in an upstairs room, but who occasionally escapes long enough to scare off uninvited visitors. The ruse works well, at first, but complications result when the local handyman develops an affection for "Sister Sadie" (really Myra in a fright wig) and some of the more officious ladies decide it is their Christian duty to save the poor demented Sadie's soul. In desperation Myra announces that her imaginary sibling has suddenly gone off to Boston—which brings on the sheriff and the suspicion of murder! Needless to say, all is straightened out in the end, but the uproarious doings will keep audiences laughing right up to the final curtain, and then some.
October 2010
The Beauty Queen of Leenane - Written by Martin McDonagh - Directed by Barry Brodie
Co-winner of the 1998 Lucille Lortel Award for outstanding play. "McDonagh is a natural storyteller who knows how to express a theme through action, and he knows how to create a gallery of fascinating rogues. The energy of his plays is prodigious…McDonagh has managed to celebrate what remains enduring and alive in human nature even in the most appalling circumstances." —New Republic. "Mr. McDonagh…[is] like a young version of Synge in exile whose voice, worn with sorrow and savage humor, owes a debt to Synge's
Playboy of the Western World…THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE is a gothic dark comedy." —NY Observer. "…THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE…is clearly the product of a major writer. Indeed, on the basis of this play alone, I am willing to make the rash claim that McDonagh is destined to be one of the theatrical luminaries of the twenty-first century." —New Republic.
December 2010
The Christmas Belles - Written by Jessie Jones/Nicholas Hope/Jamie Wooten -
Directed by Sue Cousins
A church Christmas program spins hilariously out of control in this Southern farce about squabbling sisters, family secrets, a surly Santa, a vengeful sheep and a reluctant Elvis impersonator. It's Christmas-time in the small town of Fayro, Texas, and the Futrelle Sisters—Frankie, Twink and Honey Raye—are not exactly in a festive mood. A cranky Frankie is weeks overdue with her
second set of twins. Twink, recently jilted and bitter about it, is in jail for inadvertently burning down half the town. And hot-flash-suffering Honey Raye is desperately trying to keep the Tabernacle of the Lamb's Christmas Program from spiraling into chaos. But things are not looking too promising: Miss Geneva, the ousted director of the previous twenty-seven productions, is ruthless in her attempts to take over the show. The celebrity guest Santa Claus—played by Frankie's long-suffering husband, Dub—is passing a kidney stone. One of the shepherds refuses to watch over his flock by night without pulling his little red wagon behind him. And the entire cast is dropping like flies due to food poisoning from the Band Boosters' Pancake Supper. And when Frankie lets slip a family secret that has been carefully guarded for decades, all hope for a successful Christmas program seems lost, even with an Elvis impersonator at the manger. But in true Futrelle fashion, the feuding sisters find a way to pull together in order to present a Christmas program the citizens of Fayro will never forget. Their hilarious holiday journey through a misadventure-filled Christmas Eve is guaranteed to bring joy to your world!
January 2011
Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf - Written by Edward Albee - Directed by Jeff Bastien
Winner of the 1963 Tony Award for Best Play. The Broadway production of this play was a shattering and memorable experience and proclaimed the author as a major American playwright. "This is a Big One." —NY Journal-American. "…a scorching, scalding, revealing and completely engrossing drama." —Women's Wear Daily. "…a brilliant piece of writing." —NY Herald-Tribune.
George, a professor at a small college, and his wife, Martha, have just returned home, drunk from a Saturday night party. Martha announces, amidst general profanity, that she has invited a young couple—an opportunistic new professor at the college and his shatteringly naďve new bride—to stop by for a nightcap. When they arrive the charade begins. The drinks flow and suddenly inhibitions melt. It becomes clear that Martha is determined to seduce the young professor, and George couldn't care less. But underneath the edgy banter, which is crossfired between both couples, lurks an undercurrent of tragedy and despair. George and Martha's inhuman bitterness toward one another is provoked by the enormous personal sadness that they have pledged to keep to themselves: a secret that has seemingly been the foundation for their relationship. In the end, the mystery in which the distressed George and Martha have taken refuge is exposed, once and for all revealing the degrading mess they have made of their lives.