SAINT SEBASTIAN PLAYERS Announce 2013-14 Season: GODSPELL, AN INTERVIEW, & More!

The Saint Sebastian Players (SSP) announce the company's 33rd season, including works by David Mamet, Elaine May and Woody Allen all in one evening, a play about a noted historical celebrity and the return of a musical important to the company's history.

The season opens with Godspell, which was produced by a group of St. Sebastian parishioners in 1981 and led to the company's founding; it also was the last show SSP produced at its original home, St. Sebastian Church, before the parish closed in 1990 and SSP relocated to its current home at St. Bonaventure. Based on the Gospel according to St. Matthew with a score by award-winning composer Stephen Schwartz and a book by John-Michael Tebelak, Godspell features the hit song "Day by Day" and other memorable tunes that bring the biblical parables to life with humor and humanity. Performances are October 18-November 10, 2013.

SSP presents In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Heinar Kipphardt, a tense courtroom drama inspired by the Personnel Security Board's secret hearing of "the father of the atomic bomb." The material provides valuable insights into the development of the atomic bomb and the postwar debate among scientists about the hydrogen bomb, the conflict between the foreign policy and military establishments over national defense and the controversy about the proper standards to apply in assessing an individual's loyalty. The play reveals the fears and anxieties that plagued America during the Cold War era-and perhaps even today. Performances are February 14-March 9, 2014.

Death Defying Acts is a comedy triple bill: David Mamet's An Interview is a mystifying interrogation in which a sleazy lawyer is forced to answer difficult questions and admit the truth about his life and career. In Hotline by Elaine May, a neurotic woman with enough urban angst to fill a neighborhood calls a suicide crisis hotline, only to reach an overwhelmed counselor during his first night on the job. And, in Woody Allen's Central Park West, a well-to-do psychiatrist gets thoroughly soused before confronting her best friend, who is having an affair with her husband-who is about to run off with a college student. Performances are April 25-May 18, 2014.

SSP began producing theatre in 1982 at its original home, the St. Sebastian parish, located at the corner of Halsted Street and Wellington Avenue on Chicago's North Side. When the parish closed, SSP relocated to its current home, St. Bonaventure, at 1625 W. Diversey. During its history, the company has produced original and previously produced dramas, comedies and musicals; original audience-participation murder mysteries for special events; and the Monologue Matchup Competition, as well as provided support for smaller Sebastian Studio Projects produced by company members.

Performances of each production are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. at St. Bonaventure, 1625 W. Diversey, at Marshfield just west of Ashland, in Chicago. Free parking is available in two lots. Subscription packages for the three-play season are $40, $25 for seniors. Full-priced single tickets are $20, $15 for students with valid IDs and $10 for seniors. Group rates also are available.

All programming is subject to change. For information, call 773-404-7922 or visit saintsebastianplayers.org.

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