Fall 2012

SMASH

An Adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's Novel "An Unsocial Socialist".
By Jeffrey Hatcher

Auditions: October 2, 3
Performances: November 29, 30, December 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9

Based on the novel An Unsocial Socialist by George Bernard Shaw, the story centers on Sidney Trefusis, a millionaire Socialist who leaves his bride on their wedding day because he fears his passion for her will get in the way of his plans to overthrow the British government. Sidney vanishes "underground" - disguises himself as a common laborer called "Mengels" - and infiltrates Alton College, a girls' school where well-bred young women are "fitted and fatted to be put on the marriage market." His plan: Take over the school and plant the seed of radical Socialism into the fertile brains of the future consorts of cabinet ministers and kings. What he doesn't plan on is the presence of one Agatha Wylie, a sixth-form rabble-rouser, who falls hopelessly in love with both Sidney and his politics, and just happens to be his deserted wife's cousin. Love triangles, mistaken identities, Marx, Engels, pistols and the proletariat jostle for position in this adaptation of Shaw's last comic novel, written in 1883.

"SMASH is witty, cunning, intelligent, and skillful. It is also generous, something cleverness isn't always...the author makes you the audience feel just as clever as he. Brilliant writing." — Seattle Weekly.

"...a fine evening out in high Shavian fashion." — BackStage West.

Winter 2013

WHOSE LIFE IS IT ANYWAY?

By Brian Clark

Auditions: January 8, 9
Performances: March 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17

A brilliant battle of wits takes place in this extraordinary play. Claire Harrison, a successful sculptor, is paralyzed in a car accident and kept alive by support systems in a hospital. Outwardly she's cheerful and often very funny, but she's overwhelmed by the fact that she has lost control of her own life. As the play begins, she is coming to the decision that if she can't live as a woman, she doesn't want to exist as a medical achievement. Her physician, however, is utterly determined to preserve Claire's life, regardless of its quality. Finally despite the pleas of the doctors and her involved nurse, Claire invokes the law of habeas corpus and a judge joins the battle to determine "Whose Life Is It Anyway?"

"As relevant today as it was when it won the Society of West End Theatre's best play award." — London Theatre Guide.

"Whose Life Is It Anyways? is a battle of ideas and a battle for life." — New York Times.

Spring 2013

ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN

Based on the books by Robert Fulghum.
Conceived and adapted by Ernest Zulia. Music and Lyrics by David Caldwell.

Auditions: March 19, 20
Performances: May 30, 31, June 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9

Based on Robert Fulghum's best-selling books, Kindergarten takes a funny, insightful, heartwarming look at what is profound in everyday life. This tightly woven adaptation has earned standing ovations from Singapore to Prague - from L.A. to D.D. It's an evening of theatrical storytelling in revue format, with monologues, dialogues, and multiple voice narration, enhanced through the use of live piano underscoring. The delightful stories feature colorful characters such as: a shy little boy who insists on playing the "pig" in his class production of Cinderella and steals the show; a man whose dream of flying carries him high over Los Angeles in a lawn chair buoyed by surplus weather balloons; a "mother of the bride" who's staged a perfect wedding—until the bowling ball of fate rolls down the aisle; and a modern-day Greek philosopher who finds the meaning of life in a piece of broken mirror from World War II. These stories celebrate our very existence, from the whimsy of childhood to the wisdom of old age.

"Heartwarming, charming, funny, and touching. The stories are about all of us." - National Public Radio

"A refreshingly intimate combination of theatre and storytelling. Gentle...funny...joyous. Sparks of recognition ignited the audience." - The Chicago Sun-Times

"A lighthearted, beautifully styled dramatization of Fulghum's writings." - Syracuse Herald Journal