WINTER SOLSTICE Begins This Month At Rec Room Arts

Rec Room Arts will begin performances of WINTER SOLSTICE, a sharply satirical holiday production by acclaimed German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig.

Directed by Bradley Michalakis (Alley Theatre), this arresting dark comedy runs from November 23 through December 14, 2024, inviting audiences to dive into a holiday experience unlike any other.

Christmas Eve: Bettina and her husband Albert aren't happy. Bettina's mother is staying for the holidays, which is awkward, not least because Bettina's mother met a man on the train, and now she's invited him over for dinner. This charming stranger, with his promises of a "better tomorrow" grounded in old-fashioned values and classical ideals, has a magnetic pull on the nostalgic, the impressionable, and the hopeful.  WINTER SOLSTICE, a razor-sharp comedy by award-winning German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig, plays with liberalism's inability to immunize itself against fascism's rhetorical power in this wildly theatrical and inventive production.

Bradley Michalakis's production features innovative staging, with performers slipping in and out of character as dialogue mixes with narration. Reality and fantasy blur together as time shifts between past and present, with objects transforming unexpectedly, leaving us unsure of what's real and what's imagined—unable to untangle absurdity or grasp how it ultimately prevails.

“In WINTER SOLSTICE, Schimmelpfennig poses a timely question about the ease with which certain ideas can slip back into society under a veil of civility,” says Artistic Director Matt Hune.  “WINTER SOLSTICE reminds audiences that sinister ideologies can find their way into any living room when left unchecked.”

The complete cast of WINTER SOLSTICE features Alan Brinks, John Dunn, Susan Koozin, Adina Opalek, and Spencer Plachy. The production features scenic and lighting design by Stefan Azizi, costume design by Afsaneh Aayani, and original music by composer Hessam Dianpour. Sound supervision is handled by Robert Leslie Meek, with stage management by Juliette de Andrade and Mary McNeely.

The Green Room Bar at Rec Room is open on show-nights beginning at 6:00 p.m. and closes at midnight. 

TICKETS AND INFORMATION

Single tickets are now on sale and range from $5 - $40. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online at https://www.recroomarts.org/winter-solstice.

WINTERSOLSTICE begins preview performances on Thursday November 21 and will run through Saturday December 14, with an official press opening on Saturday, November 23.

The performance schedule is Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m.  All performances are downtown at Rec Rom, 100 Jackson Street 130C, Houston, TX 77002

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