Pittsburgh Irish And Classical Theater Announces 13th Season

Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre celebrates thirteen years of theatrical excellence next year with six mainstage productions and the return of the popular Storytellers Series. The 2009 season runs May-September with a special family friendly December production in time for the holidays. The organization has snagged the rights to produce one of the very first regional productions of Tom Stoppard's recent Broadway sensation Rock'n'Roll, and will present the play as the opener of the 2009 season, "New and Ideal." The season continues with the naughty-yet-sophisticated wit of Joe Orton's What the Butler Saw, the moral uncertainty of John Patrick Shanley's Doubt, the unbridled enthusiasm of Alan Bennett's students in The History Boys, and two classics of modern literature, Crime and Punishment and Jane Eyre, in phenomenal new adaptations for the stage. The Storytellers Series returns with Prague Spring: Three comedies about life under Communism by Vaclav Havel.

PICT's season begins in May, 2009 with the Pittsburgh professional premiere of Rock'n'Roll , Stoppard's sweeping and passionate look at the Czech experience between the Prague Spring and the Velvet Revolution, as a shaggy-haired rock band comes to symbolize resistance to the Communist regime. Rock'n'Roll is directed by PICT Artistic Director Andrew S. Paul. The Rock'n'Roll company will also perform directed readings of Havel's three great comedies about life under Communisim: Largo Desolato (translated by Stoppard), Redevelopment, and Temptation. Collectively, these plays explore the comic absurdity of life under a soulless totalitarian government. June brings What the Butler Saw, Orton's irreverent, outrageous, and surprisingly sophisticated sex farce! In July, PICT associate director Jeffrey M. Cordell returns to direct reigning Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Performer of the Year David Whalen in a scaldingly intimate production of John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Doubt. August brings the Pittsburgh professional premier of Alan Bennett's award-winning comedy, The History Boys, a subtle, profound and enormously moving play which questions the methods and purpose of modern education.

The 2009 season ends with thrilling new theatrical adaptations of two of greatest stories of all time - Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Why does the brilliant young student Raskolnikov commit a brutal murder? Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus's Crime and Punishment utilizes just three actors to bring one of the world's greatest psychological novels to life. Brontë's Jane Eyre, the story of a simple governess and her forbidden relationship with the brooding and mysterious Mr. Rochester, is one of the most heartrending and powerful tales of romance and suspense ever told.

It's 1968 and Russian tanks are rolling into Prague; Jan, a Czech student, lives for rock 'n' roll. Max, his Cambridge professor, lives for Communism. Syd, the Piper, disappears from public view at the height of his fame while Esme, the flower child, gets high...and a shaggy-haired rock band, The Plastic People of the Universe, comes to symbolize resistance to the Communist regime. By 1990, the tanks are rolling out, the Stones re rolling in, and absurdist playwright is in Prague Castle, and utopian idealism has hit a wall. Four-time Tony Award winner Tom Stoppard's sweeping and passionate play, dedicated to Vaclav Havel, spans two countries, three generations, 22 turbulent years, and one heck of a lot of great rock 'n' roll. Directed by PICT Artistic Director Andrew S. Paul, Rock'n'Roll previews May 7th and 8th, opens My 9th, and runs through May 30th in the Henry Heymann Theatre, Stephen Foster Memorial, Oakland.

PICT's Storytellers Series returns with Prague Spring: Three comedies about life under communism by Vaclav Havel, featuring the company of Rock'n'Roll in directed readings. Vaclav Havel was born in Prague in 1936. Long acknowledged as Czechoslovakia's foremost playwright and leading dissident, he piloted the "velvet revolution," which successfully ousted the Communist regime from power and catapulted Havel into office as president of Czechoslovakia and the first president of the Czech Republic. Largo Desolato (translated by Tom Stoppard) gives us the comically absurd and seemingly autobiographical account of Professor Leopold Nettles, a revered but reluctant revolutionary whose most recent book has irked the totalitarian government in power. The authorities demand a retraction; his friends and fans clamor for heroic defiance. Largo Desolato will be performed in the Henry Heymann Theatre on April 26th at 7 p.m. In Redevelopment, architects plan a radical restoration of a village that is a soulless, characterless drawing board monstrosity; the protest of residents is met with arrogance from the authorities. Redevelopment will be performed in the Henry Heymann Theatre on May 17th at 7 p.m. Temptation gives the Faust legend a provocative twist. The setting is "the Institute," whose mission is to combat 'irrational tendencies' in society through scientific work. Temptation will be performed in the Henry Heymann Theatre on May 24th at 7 p.m.

Joe Orton's What the Butler Saw is Oscar Wilde on acid, combining witty dialogue with blatant sexuality, poking fun at authority, and hanging conventional morality upside down. The play opens with a middle-aged psychiatrist convincing an attractive woman to undress as part of a job interview. When his wife shows up, a wild, farcical romp ensues. What the Butler Saw previews on June 11th and 12th, opens on June 13th and runs through June 27th in The Charity Randall Theatre, Stephen Foster Memorial, Oakland.

1964. A Catholic school in the Bronx. A hard-edged nun grows suspicious when a young priest seems to take a special interest in a new student. Convinced that something improper is occurring and that church hierarchy will blindly protect the man, she sets out to confront him. But are her fears based upon moral certainty or stubborn prejudice? Winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play, John Patrick Shanley's sensational play Doubt will be directed by PICT associate director Jeffrey M. Cordell (Boston Marriage, Private Lives) and stars David Whalen as Father Flynn. Doubt previews on July 9th and 10th, opens July 11th and runs through August 1st in the Henry Heymann Theatre.

A hugely successful, sold-out hit at The National Theatre of Great Britain and on Broadway, Alan Bennett's brilliant comedy The History Boys follows the senior year of eight history students in the north of England as they try to crack admission to Oxford and Cambridge. Unruly, bright, talented and amusing, these boys are in natural pursuit of sex, sport and a place at a good university. They are guided in these pursuits by their overeager Headmaster, a maverick, eccentric English teacher, and a new instructor whose mandate is to get the boys to think outside the box and get noticed. A very funny and deeply moving play, The History Boys explores the anarchy of adolescence, the nature of history, and the methods and very purpose of education today. The History Boys previews August 6th and 7th, opens August 8th and runs through August 22nd in The Charity Randall Theatre.

A brilliant young student, an unorthodox detective, and a young woman forced into a life of prostitution are hurtled together by a brutal act of murder in Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. Three actors bring one of the world's greatest psychological novels to life in this thrilling, award-winning new 90-minute adaptation by Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus. Crime and Punishment previews September 10th and 11th, opens September 12th and runs through September 26th in the Henry Heymann Theatre.

PICT season ends with a holiday production for the whole family -- a stage adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's beloved novel Jane Eyre. A simple governess, Jane Eyre wins the heart of Edward Fairfax Rochester, the brooding and mysterious master of Thornfield Hall. Questioning the boundaries of class and gender, it is one of the most heartrending and powerful tales of romance and suspense ever told. Adapted and directed by Irish director Alan Stanford (Salome) Jane Eyre previews December 2nd and 3rd, opens December 4th and runs through December 20th in The Charity Randall Theatre.

Ten different season subscription packages are available, ranging from $180 to $240. Flexible packages are also available. Single tickets range from $36 to $48, with $17 tickets available for those under 25. The Storytellers Series is available as an add-on to subscriptions for only $30; individual tickets fro the Storytellers Series are $15. Subscriptions on sale now, and can be purchased by calling Eric Nelson at 412-561-6000 x207 or emailing enelson@picttheatre.org. Single tickets will go on sale early in 2009. (See Fact Sheet for breakdown of days, times and prices.)

 

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