1999–2000
Mainstage
Suddenly Last Summer
by Tennessee Williams
directed by Amy Ruprecht-Belt
October 15, 16, 17, & 22, 23, 24
He was a pleasure seeker, corrupt and corrupting. She was the beautiful young cousin he had chosen as a victim. The innocent and the damned are brought into vivid focus as Williams examines the dark corners of the human heart in this powerful drama of madness and perverse love.
Grace and Glorie
by Tom Ziegler
directed by Fay McKenna
December 3, 4, 5, & 10, 11, 12
Ninety-year-old Grace has come home to her ramshackle mountain cabin to die. Glorie is the hospice worker assigned to her care. As these two strong, stubborn women warily drop their masks and reveal their secrets, they begin, unexpectedly, to forge a deep bond. This gentle, lyrical work examines the power of love and friendship.
The Father
by August Strindberg
directed by Lynn Rathbone
February 4, 5, 6, & 11, 12, 13
The battle of the sexes escalates into a fight to the death as a husband and wife vie for control of their daughter’s future. The sabotage of a man’s sanity by the women closest to him makes for an astonishing confrontation. This classic masterpiece explores questions of gender, power, and love.
Resident Alien
by Stuart Spencer
directed by Sean Ruprecht-Belt
April 16, 17, 18 & 23, 24, 25
Michael’s kid has been “borrowed” by aliens, the sheriff wants to arrest him, and his ex-wife is sleeping with an extraterrestrial bus boy. Michael is thinking of starting over, maybe someplace far, far away. Anything is possible, but nothing is certain in this offbeat hit comedy from the 1998 Humana Festival.
Staged Readings Festival
May 5, 6, 7
directed by Carrie Hughes
The Boy Comes Home
by A. A. Milne
Philip returns home to find that Uncle James expects him to take his place in the family jam business, but now that the Great War has taught the boy to get his way at gunpoint does the uncle stand a chance?
Trifles
by Susan Glaspell
In this classic from the Provincetown Players, a farmer is strangled in his bed and all evidence points to his wife, but the sheriff can't come up with a motive. Perhaps marriage is motive enough.
May 12, 13, 14
directed by Janice Valdes
Signs of Life
by Joan Schenkar
Henry James burns his sister Alice’s journals, P. T. Barnum puts an Elephant Woman on display, and then they share a cup of tea in this surreal and sardonic nightmare about Man’s treatment of Woman.
May 19, 20, 21
directed by Naomi Duncan
Placebo
by Andrew Vachss
Best known for his hard-boiled detective novels, Vachss turns to the stage to offer us a terrifying urban revenge tale that gives new meaning to the job title Repairman.
A Lady of Letters
and
Soldiering On
Alan Bennett
Our audience and ouractors so enjoyed our last encounter with Bennett’s television series Talking Heads, that we return for two more of his witty and poignant excursions into the human soul.