Victory Gardens Theatre Announces Their Shows For 2010-11 Season
By: Caroline Cole Apr. 22, 2010
Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago, IL has announced four of five shows for the 2010/11 season. The shows include the Chicago Premiere of AT HOME AT THE ZOO, TREE, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JAMES; and the World Premiere of THE BOYS ROOM. Performance dates have not yet been released.
ZOO STORY
By Edward Albee, Directed by Dennis Zacek
Albee pairs his classic, A ZOO STORY, the one-act that launched his career fifty years ago, with a new prequel titled HOMELIFE. The lives of three New Yorkers are changed forever as revelations and confrontations of one sunny afternoon send them down surprising new paths. With shocking secrets to reveal, sharp truths to confront and hearts bursting with all the complexities of humanity, experience the intensity that is true Albee. Victory Gardens season opener will feature star of stage and screen Peter Strauss as Peter, Annabel Armour as Ann, and Marc Grapey as Jerry.
TREE
By Julie Hébert, Directed by Andrea J. Dymond
Julie Hébert’s new play depicts three generations divided by race, culture, time, and place. A divorced chef, Leo, is caring for his aging mother with the help of his college-age daughter when Didi, a southern white woman, barges into their lives with a provocative cache of love letters. Written by her deceased father, the letters reveal a compelling family secret. In search of the truth, Leo must sift through the addled memories of his mother and her surprising and contradictory stories of her dangerous interracial romance. Eloquently melding realism and poetry, Tree fosters a deep, true conversation between people who are linked in many ways, but separated by race.
THE BOYS ROOM
By Playwrights Ensemble Member Joel Drake Johnson, Directed by Sandy Shinner
When the American Dream is out of reach, what is a man to do? In THE BOYS ROOM, ensemble playwright Joel Drake Johnson walks the line between laughter and tears. Two middle aged brothers try to escape their responsibilities and race each other back to their boyhood bedroom—that sanctuary where they can dream and scheme without the pressure of the outside world. One is unemployed; the other is making a living but is not sure why he should live. The women in their lives are knocking on the door, filled with questions and, sometimes, love. The Boys Room will feature beloved Chicago actress Mary Ann Thebus as the mother of the “boys”.
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JAMES
By Playwrights Ensemble Member, Charles Smith
It’s 1930 in Indiana and five young people are eager to break out of their small town. They need a car. They have a gun. But years later, contradictory memories are all that’s left of their grand plans. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JAMES is based on the double lynching immortalized by the iconic Lawrence Beitler photograph. The play creates a fictional meeting between the man who survived the lynching and the only woman with them that night. As The Gospel dramatizes the events leading up to the crime, it explores how unreliable personal memory underlies what we believe to be an immutable public history.
For more information on Victory Garden Theatre's 2010-11 Season, visit victorygardens.org.
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