Now On Stage

October 2019
Five by Ten – The Tales of Tennessee Williams

A series of short one-acts and stories from one of America’s greatest playwrights.  Including The Lady of Larkspur Lotion, Hello From Bertha, This Property is Condemned, Talk To Me Like The Rain all by Tennessee Williams and You Lied To Me About Centralia by John Guare (based on a short story by Williams).

November 2019
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

This Shakespeare comedy is a beautiful play about misunderstandings, love, and deception.   Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon, stops to visit his friend Leonato after a successful military campaign with some of his soldiers including Claudio and Benedick.  Leonato shares his house with his lovely young daughter, Hero, his playful, clever niece, Beatrice, and his elderly brother, Antonio (who is Beatrice’s father).  Claudio falls in love with Hero and their marriage is agreed upon.  Beatrice and Benedick despise love and engage in comic banter. The others plot to make them fall in love with each other and things get comically out of hand.

February 2020
Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson

This beautiful play tells the true story of Henrietta Leavitt, the astronomer ahead of her time. It is 1900, and Henrietta has the opportunity to work at Harvard University as a human computer, one of Dr. Edward Pickering’s “harem,” mapping the stars but receiving no scientific credit.

April 2020
Next To Normal – Music by Tom Kitt.  Book and Lyrics by Brian Yorkey

In this intense and moving musical, the story centers on a mother who struggles with worsening bipolar disorder and the effects that managing her illness has on her family.  The musical addresses grief, depression, suicide, drug abuse, ethics in modern psychiatry, and the underbelly of suburban life.  The play was nominated for 11 Tony Awards and won three – Best Original Score, Best Orchestration, and Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for Alice Ripley.  It also won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Keep an eye on our website for audition and performance dates and times.

www.polk.edu/theatre