romantic comedy
Almost, Maine
by john cariani
directed by abbey fera
September 16th, 18th, 20th
Welcome to Almost, Maine, a place that’s so far north, it’s almost not in the United States. It’s almost in Canada. And it’s not quite a town, because its residents never got around to getting organized. So it almost doesn’t exist. One cold, clear, winter night, as the northern lights hover in the star-filled sky above, the residents of Almost, Maine, find themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected and hilarious ways. Knees are bruised. Hearts are broken. But the bruises heal, and the hearts mend—almost—in this delightful midwinter night’s dream.
Drama
Still Life with Iris
by steven dietz
directed by Jami Windham
november 11-14
This piece is the first play for young audiences to receive the Kennedy Center's Fund for New American Plays Award. Still Life with Iris is a fantastical adventure which centers on a little girl's search for the simplest of things: home. Iris lives with her mom in the land of Nocturno—a magical place in which the workers make, by night, all of the things we see in the world by day. Also, in Nocturno, memories do not reside in people's minds but instead are kept in their coats (called "Past Coats"). The rulers of Nocturno, the Great Goods, are determined to have the "best" of everything on their island—and therefore take Iris away from her home and bring her to Great Island to be their daughter. To ease the pain of this separation, they remove her Past Coat, leaving her with no memory of her home or her family. All that remains of Iris' past is a single button from her coat. Using the button as a clue, Iris joins with friends she meets on her journey—Annabel Lee (a young woman from the sea) and Mozart (the composer, age 11)—and frees herself from the Great Goods. She returns to Nocturno, having found her past, and her home.
Drama
The Girl in the White Pinafore
directed by abbey fera
uil oap
On the last day of his life, William Chesley Shaw is haunted, figuratively and literally, by his past. He had been the superintendent of the New London, Texas school district on March 18, 1937, when, due to a gas leak from an improperly installed pipe beneath the school, the New London school exploded. The children of the New London school, led by Amelia (the girl in the white pinafore), now haunt Shaw. Hurt and confused, Amelia cannot move on until she can forgive herself for her mistakes on that fateful day and Shaw for his leading to the tragedy. More a story of the search for redemption than an outright ghost story, The Girl In The White Pinafore asks tough questions about guilt and grief. Based on real events that touch our lives still.