Thursday, July 24, 2008

Second Thought Theatre announces 2008-2009 season

By Pegasus News wire

Second Thought Theatre is proud to announce their landmark 5th Anniversary Season, complete with eclectic mainstage shows, the beginning of a Reading Series, and a triumphant return to the area festivals that helped start it all:

• Collected Stories by Donald Margulies is an insightful look at the relationship between teacher and student. This poignant story revolves around Ruth, a famous aging author, and her quirky protégé, the tenacious Lisa. Collected Stories brings the issue of artistic license into sharp focus, and begs an answer to the question of mimicry vs. homage. Sweet, sad, and terrifically honest, Donald Margulies’ work will leave you wondering who has won, and who you were rooting for, when the dust begins to settle. This season opener will feature Dallas actors Pam Dougherty and Allison Tolman and is directed by new STT Ensemble Member Jocelyn Wiebe. The Design Team includes Stew Awalt, Tasia Munoz, Drew Wall, Jason Driggers and Nathan Evinger with Traci Kaplan Stage Managing. Runs August 28th - September 13.
• A Skull in Connemara, by award-winning playwright Martin McDonagh, brings to life a chillingly dark Irish tale in a faultless marriage of humor and horror. Each Fall Mick Dowd is hired to exhume the bones in certain sections of the local cemetery to make room for new arrivals. This year promises to be problematic however, as he is assigned to dig up the bones of his late beloved wife, who died under increasingly suspicious circumstances. By turns uproariously funny and deliciously disturbing, A Skull in Connemara is the perfect tale for a winter’s night and runs January 2 - January 17, 2009.
• Pvt. Wars by James McClure, to be featured at the March 2009 Out of the Loop Festival, is set in a veterans hospital post Vietnam War. Pvt. Wars follows the abundant, and sometimes absurd, exploits of Silvio, Gately, and Natwick. This uplifting portrayal of everyday life in the wake of war artfully blends humor and pain, triumph and uncertainty. Laughs of every type are sure to abound in James McClure's acidly funny portrayal of three young men working to resolve their own private wars. Show dates to be determined.
• Some Girl(s) by Neil LaBute. One of the most prolific and promising young playwrights of the new millennium, Neil Labute conveys the hilarious trials of thirty something adults as no other writer can. In Some Girl(s), LaBute chronicles one young writer’s odyssey as he travels the country reconnecting with the ex-girlfriends he can’t seem to let go of, despite his impending marriage. At once humorous and heart breaking, Some Girl(s) casts a truthful and riotous light on a typical American male as he struggles to come into his own. This off-beat comedy reminiscent of High Fidelity is sure to remind us all of the ones that got away; and leave us wondering if we aren’t better off for it after all. Some Girls runs July 16 - August 1, 2009.

Second Thought continues its growth by adding an innovative Reading Series, which will feature a new play by a seasoned author and an exciting drama by our own Resident playwright.

• Cormac McCarthy, award-winning author of No Country for Old Men, takes a turn at playwrighting with what he calls “a novel in dramatic form”. The Sunset Limited follows two nameless characters, designated "White" and "Black" for their respective skin colors. As the story begins, Black has rescued White from a suicide attempt on a train platform and brought him home to his sparse apartment. Black, an ex-convict and devout Christian, debates life, death, and God with White- an atheist and a scholar. With prior performances limited to New York and Chicago, this urban morality play is sure to be a breath of fresh air for Dallas audiences hungry for some mettle. Invited Guests April 3, 2009 & General Public April 4, 2009.
• Second Thought Theatre Resident Playwright Steve Walters examines the intricate relationship between two broken and unlikely companions in his new drama Little Light. One is a well-known Christian author who has renounced God after his marriage, his career, and his faith are irrevocably marred by his wife's infidelity. The other is a young woman who lives and works in seedy bars and Gentleman's Clubs, searching for something to fill the hole her checkered childhood has left. One night he rescues her from a mob of would be assailants and takes her back to his hotel room to sober up. Thus begins an improbable friendship that will leave both parties unalterably changed. Invited Guests May 15, 2009 & General Public May 16, 2009.

Second Thought Theatre performs the 2008-2009 Season at the Addison Theatre Centre. For ticket reservations, call the WaterTower Theatre Box Office at 972-450-6232.

Posted by Shawn

See more stories in:

• Arts > Fine Arts > Theater > Plays