2005-2006 Studiio Theatre Season (DC)

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/16/05 at 3:53am

Wow. Every board member in DC should make a point to subscribe -- a completely FIRST-RATE list of productions including CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, A full Neil La Bute festival, FROZEN, GUANTANAMO, THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE et al:


"HOT, UNPREDICTABLE, ELECTRIFYING: POWER PLAYS
FOUNDING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR JOY ZINOMAN ANNOUNCES THE STUDIO THEATRE’S 2005-2006 SEASON

FEATURING 11 EXHILARATING PRODUCTIONS: A 5-PLAY SUBSCRIPTION SEASON, 2 SPECIAL EVENTS, AND 4 SECONDSTAGE PROJECTS

The Studio Theatre goes public with its explosive 2005-2006 Season! This season, which marks the first full year in The Studio Theatre’s new four-theatre complex, explores the workings of power in all its forms¾between governments and citizens, parents and children, teachers and students, colleagues and lovers. The full eleven-production lineup tackles tough political issues, puts women center stage, celebrates a modern playwright and continues The Studio Theatre’s ongoing commitment to cutting-edge contemporary writing and electrifying performances.

The five-play subscription season begins with Caryl Churchill’s newest masterwork A Number, starring Ted Van Griethuysen and Tom Story. Current events take the stage with the compelling and timely docu-drama Guantanamo: ‘Honor Bound to Defend Freedom.’ The season continues with Fat Pig, Neil LaBute’s stinging look at beauty and power dynamics in modern relationships, part of a LaBute Festival. In the spring, The Studio Theatre will present a new, revised version of Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. The season concludes with a major American musical, Caroline, or Change, from Jeanine Tesori and Tony Kushner, the Pulitzer prize winning author of Angels in America.

To complement its five-play subscription season, The Studio Theatre will present two Special Events: Marie Ndiaye’s Hilda, a chilling psychological thriller produced at The Studio Theatre en route to New York, and the pulse-pounding spectacle of Charlie Victor Romeo. The Studio Theatre Secondstage, under the artistic direction of Keith Alan Baker, will feature four projects, including the world premiere production of Neil LaBute’s Autobahn, Bryony Lavery’s breakthrough play Frozen, and Jez Butterworth’s edgy underworld tale Mojo. Secondstage’s annual Readers Theatre Series continues with The LaBute Readings.

SPOTLIGHT ON WOMEN
The Studio Theatre’s 2005-2006 season features the work of seven female authors and one female composer; three productions include a powerful woman in the title role. The women whose work will be staged this season range from a contemporary master, Caryl Churchill, to theatrical newcomers Victoria Brittain and Gillian Slovo, who created Guantanamo: ‘Honor Bound to Defend Freedom.’ Playwright Jay Presson Allen recently revised her adaptation of Muriel Spark’s acclaimed novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Women created not only the words but also the music this season¾ Caroline, or Change composer Jeanine Tesori is also known for her work on the Tony Award-winning hit Thoroughly Modern Millie. The female characters on the stage are as compelling as their creators, and a series of talented performers from Washington and across the country will come together to bring these women to life. Sarah Marshall takes on the title role in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, one of the twentieth-century theatre’s most unforgettable characters. Kate Debelack will appear as Helen, the fiercely smart heroine of LaBute’s controversially titled Fat Pig.

The season’s focus on women carries over into our Special Events and Secondstage productions. Hilda is the first play by the acclaimed French-Senegalese novelist, Marie Ndiaye. Hilda stars Ellen Karas, who returns to Washington for this tour-de-force performance, and is directed by Carey Perloff, artistic director of San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre. The Studio Theatre Secondstage features Bryony Lavery’s Frozen, her breakthrough play that packed houses in London and New York.

THE NEIL LABUTE FESTIVAL
The Studio Theatre takes a fresh look at an important contemporary dramatist. For the first time, in this groundbreaking festival, The Studio Theatre offers three simultaneous productions by a single author. The festival offers audiences a multi-faceted look at the drama and prose of “the most legitimately provocative and polarizing playwright at work today” (New York Metro). A prolific and powerful author, LaBute has had three world premiere works on major stages in New York and London in the 2004-2005 season. The Studio Theatre’s festival will feature Fat Pig, a major off-Broadway success; Autobahn, the world premiere production of a brand new collection of seven playlets; and The LaBute Readings, selections from the playwright’s latest prose works.

http://www.studiotheatre.org/about/press_releases.php?pid=86

Updated On: 6/16/05 at 03:53 AM