2011-2012 Season

Friday, June 29, 2012 at 3:00 pm
W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre

The Birds

by Conor McPherson
adapted from the short story by Daphne du Maurier
directed by Henry Wishcamper

In Conor McPherson’s adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s The Birds, strangers Nat and Diane take refuge in an isolated, abandoned house from the unnerving masses of birds that attack everyone around them. They find relative sanctuary but not comfort or peace: there’s no electricity, little food and the birds always return. And they worry about a nearby neighbor, who may or may not still be alive and watching them. Soon another refugee, the young, attractive Julia, arrives with some news of the outside world but her presence also brings discord. The uncertain survival of the three becomes even more doubtful when paranoia creeps into their little refuge, adding an internal threat to match the external threat of the birds.

The cast of The Birds is: with Michael Cerveris* (Evita, In The Next Room or the vibrator play), Reyna de Courcy* (Burning, Orange, Hat & Grace), Jonathan Hogan* (Molly Sweeney at The Irish Rep, Book of Days) and Tonya Pinkins* (Storefront Church, Milk Like Sugar).

Friday, March 30, 2012 at 3:00 pm

16 Possible Glimpses

by Marina Carr

16 Possible Glimpses flashes through the life of Chekhov, the master story-teller, master playwright, doctor, lover, brother, son. A kaleidoscope of dialogues and images – tea and vodka, petal-filled gardens, oceans of champagne, a black monk travelling through time – reveal a life in which eternity is the only thing worth talking about. A poetic imagining of the life of a brilliant man. (courtesy of Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival)

The cast of 16 Possible Glimpses is: Bianca Amato (The Broken Heart, Arcadia), Rachel Botchan (The Philanderer, The Bald Soprano), Alex Draper (A Map of Virtue, Terrorism), Roberta Maxwell (The Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters), Brian McManamon (It or Her, “Gossip Girl”), Drew McVety (Billy Elliot, Sunday in the Park with George), Rocco Sisto (Seminar, Measure for Measure), David Sitler (Beyond The Horizon, Frost/Nixon), Vanessa Wasche (The Pillowbook, Motherf**ker with the Hat).

Friday, February 24, 2012 at 3:00 pm

By the Bog of Cats

by Marina Carr

By the Bog of Cats is set in the mysterious landscape of the bogs of rural Ireland. The play tells the story of Hester Swane, an Irish traveller with a deep and unearthly connection to her land. Tormented by the memory of a mother who deserted her, Hester is once again betrayed, this time by the father of her child, the man she loves. On the brink of despair, she embarks on a terrible journey of vengeance as the secrets of her tangled history are revealed.

By the Bog of Cats premiered at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin in 1998. It was revived at Wyndham’s Theatre, London in November 2004.

By The Bog of Cats will be read by Bianca Amato* (The Broken Heart, The Coast of Utopia), Mark Blum* (We Live Here, After the Revolution), Dashiell Eaves* (A Behanding in Spokane, Killers and Other Family), Michelle Hurst* (The Story, “Sherrybaby”), Mia Katigbak* (Futura, Blind Mouth Singing), Louisa Krause* (“Martha Marcy May Marlene,” In A Dark Dark House), Dan McCabe* (Sons of the Prophet, Len Asleep On Vinyl), Marissa O’Donnell* (“Peace, Love & Misunderstanding,” Shrek The Musical), Gordana Rashovich* (Road To Mecca, The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore), and David Sitler* (Beyond The Horizon, An Inspector Calls) *courtesy of AEA

Friday, December 16, 2011 at 3:00 pm

Coleslaw and Coconut Cream Pie

by Lans Traverse

In Coleslaw and Coconut Cream Pie, two sisters, battling different kinds of addictive and destructive behavior, try to care for their ailing mother while negotiating the financial and emotional devastation of their family.

The cast for Coleslaw and Coconut Cream Pie is Lynn Cohen (Three Sisters, Chasing Manet, “Sex and the City”), Rebecca Henderson (Autumn Sonata, The Collection and A Kind of Alaska) and Heather Raffo (Nine Parts of Desire, Palace of the End).

Friday, October 21, 2011 at 3:00 pm

Rebel in the Soul

by Larry Kirwan
directed by Charlotte Moore

Rebel in the Soul deals with the confrontation in 1951 between Dr. Noel Browne, Minister for Health in the Irish Government, and Dr. John Charles McQuaid, Archbishop of Dublin over Browne’s Mother and Child Health Scheme. Browne’s family had been ravaged by tuberculosis and the 35 year-old Minister had already set in motion policies that would eventually eradicate the disease from Ireland. He next planned to give free pre-natal and health care to Irish women and their children. Young, arrogant and passionate, he arrives at the Episcopal Palace for his final meeting with the Archbishop. Both men and the destiny of Ireland will be changed by the events of the evening.

Rebel in the Soul will be read by Reed Birney* (Dreams of Flying Dreams of Falling, A Small Fire) and Rob Campbell* (Titus Andronicus, “Rabbit Hole”). *Courtesy AEA