Actors Theatre of Louisville Announces 2011-2012 Season

Artistic Director Marc Masterson and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein are pleased to announce Actors Theatre's 48th season lineup. "The 2011-2012 upcoming Brown-Forman series is an exciting multi-faceted program which includes the staging of two classic novels; a heartwarming and honest exploration of the personal impact of war; a three-time Tony Award-nominated play about love, longing, and science, and the regional premiere of an Off-Broadway hit. Plus, an exciting line up of new plays in the 36th Annual Humana Festival and the return of three holiday favorites", said Masterson on his final season selection as Artistic Director of Actors Theatre. "Actors Theatre has a fantastic team of staff with whom I have worked with for many years and in whose experience and incredible expertise I have confidence to successfully realize my final season."

Jennifer Bielstein, Actors Theatre's Managing Director adds, "The 2011-2012 Season represents a vibrant mix of classic storytelling, critically lauded new plays making a splash with audiences around the country, timely contemporary work that help us to take a closer look at the human experience and the issues that are central to our lives today, and the warmth and humor of our annual holiday shows. It's precisely the mix of entertaining and challenging programming that audiences in Louisville have come to expect and enjoy from Marc's eleven seasons at The Actors Theatre. At a time when the role of the arts is more vital than ever, we are thrilled to be able to provide an outlet for laughter, love, collaboration and exchange to the citizens of Louisville."

We open the 2011-2012 Season with Jon Jory's brand new adaptation of Jane Austen's beloved story of sisterhood and the search for the perfect match in Sense & Sensibility (August 30 through September 24). Jory's adaptation was recently described in the Chicago Tribune as "truly excellent" and we are thrilled to announce that he will return to Actors Theatre to direct this Austen classic.
In October, Mark Twain's popular American tale is brought to life in Laura Eason's magical new adaptation, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (October 4 through October 29). Sure to be a hit with the entire family, this production is presented as a co-production with The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Kansas City Repertory Theatre and will be directed by Jeremy B. Cohen, Artistic Director of Playwright's Center, Minneapolis.

Next up a play that has been receiving praise from audiences and critics alike around the country. Opening November 15 and running through December 17 in the Bingham Theatre, Emily Ackerman and KJ Sanchez's acclaimed play ReEntry explores the true personal impact of war of those immediately affected by it; veterans and their families.

Actors Theatre slams into the New Year with The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (January 3 through February 4, 2012). Making its first stop since its Off-Broadway premiere, Kristoffer Diaz's comedy about power, race and class in the world of professional wrestling will be directed by Associate Artistic Director, Sean Daniels.

The season continues with Sarah Ruhl's scintillating and marvelously entertaining play In The Next Room or the vibrator play. Three-time Tony Award nominee, including Best Play, and a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Ruhl's drama will run in the Pamela Brown Auditorium (January 24 through February 18, 2012).

The season will culminate in the 36th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays, February 26 through April 15, which continues to be the country's leading opportunity to see groundbreaking, brand-new work by the American Theatre's most talented living writers. The festival is underwritten by The Humana Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Humana, Inc. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.

Plus, back again by popular demand are the holiday classics A Fifth Third Bank's A Christmas Carol (December 6 - December 23), A Christmas Story (November 8 - 27) and the return of Louisville's Halloween cult-thriller, Fifth Third Bank's Dracula (September 14 - October 30).

2011-2012 season ticket packages are on sale now starting as low as $121 and are available online at actorstheatre.org or by calling the Box Office at 502-584-1205.

Actors Theatre of Louisville's 48th Season lineup:
Sense & Sensibility
adapted and directed by Jon Jory
from the novel by Jane Austen
August 30- September 24, 2011

A lack of family fortune means limited marriage prospects for the Dashwood sisters - two girls who are only alike in their hope to find a husband. Scandalous secrets and tumultuous twists line the path to true love in Jon Jory's brand new adaption of this classic tale of flirtation and folly, in which the two sisters find that neither Elinor's common sense nor Marianne's passion may offer up the key to happiness.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Laura Eason
adapted from the novel by Mark Twain
directed by Jeremy B. Cohen
October 4- October 29, 2011
Reconnect with Mark Twain's incomparable classic in a magical new production, perfect for the whole family. In idyllic 1840s Missouri, Tom and his friends revel in all that is grand and glorious about childhood. This mischievous rascal, joined by Huckleberry Finn, can charm Aunt Polly, save the town from a local criminal and win the heart of fair Becky Thatcher, all in the course of one small-town day.

Produced in association with The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Kansas City Repertory Theatre

ReEntry
by Emily Ackerman and KJ Sanchez
directed by KJ Sanchez
November 15- December 17, 2011
Inspirational, honest, and heartwarming; frank, funny, and long overdue. This surprising and acclaimed new play, based on interviews with combat veterans and their families, puts aside politics and Hollywood alike to probe the unvarnished and powerfully personal truths of those who serve and sacrifice. How do you shift from battlefields to backyard barbecues? What is the price paid by families at home when husbands, mothers, sons, and sisters go to war?

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity
by Kristoffer Diaz
directed by Sean Daniels
January 3 - February 4, 2012
A comic powerslam of a play, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity - in its first stop since its Off-Broadway premiere - is a theatrical event that dares to throw political correctness out of the ring. Macedonio "The Mace" Guerra is a pro wrestler who recruits his ticket to the big time: a charismatic, trash-talking Indian kid from Brooklyn who's the perfect foil to the All-American champion, Chad Deity. But when their rivalry is used to exploit racial stereotypes in the name of ratings, all three men find themselves fighting for much more than the championship title.

In The Next Room or the vibrator play
by Sarah Ruhl
directed by Laura Gordon

January 24 - February 18, 2012
This critically lauded play about love, longing, and science takes place in a proper Victorian home where a doctor invents a most extraordinary device for treating "hysteria." As his wife overhears the treatment of his patients in the next room, long dormant thoughts and feelings begin to stir. This smart, classy and touching Tony Award-nominated play about marriage and intimacy, and how the invention of electricity fused them together, is sure to be the buzz of the city!
Co-production with Milwaukee Repertory Theater

The 36th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays
February 26- April 15
The Humana Festival is the premier event of its kind in the nation, debuting new plays right in your backyard! Catch groundbreaking world premieres that represent many generations, many voices and many views-including yours. The festival runs the gamut from comedies to dramas to plays that forge new theatrical territory. Combined with world-class design and performances, this celebration of American Playwrights' innovation and imagination has something in it for everyone.

HOLIDAY FAVORITES
Fifth Third Bank's Dracula
originally dramatized by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston
from Bram Stoker's world famous novel, Dracula,
as adapted & directed by WilLiam McNulty
September 14 - October 30, 2011
Experience the gothic story as you've never seen it before, with recently redesigned sets, costumes, lighting and sound-plus thrills and chills that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

A Christmas Story with support provided by Fifth Third Bank
by Philip Grecian
based on the motion picture A Christmas Story
© 1983 Turner Entertainment Co., distributed by Warner Bros.,
written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Rob Clark,
and on the book In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd
directed by Sean Daniels
November 8 -27, 2011
In this Christmas adventure like no other, a boy's ardent campaign for a Red Ryder BB gun against all odds ("You'll shoot your eye out!") unfolds amid seasonal shenanigans involving a leg lamp, a bunny suit and a tongue stuck on a frozen flagpole. Relive a family tradition or start one anew by joining Ralphie and his family for this stage adaption of the beloved film inspired by Jean Shepherd's classic American story of Christmas-and growing up-in the Midwest.

Fifth Third Bank's A Christmas Carol
adapted by Barbara Field
from Charles Dickens
directed by Sean Daniels
December 6 - December 23, 2011

Louisville's biggest and best holiday tradition-the classic story of Scrooge, Tiny Tim and the spirits of Christmas, told with the warmth of holiday music and visual splendor.

TICKETS
Season tickets are on sale now and are available or online at www.actorstheatre.org or by calling the Box Office at 502-584-1205.

 

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