SALUTE TO THE BRAVE, THREE WISE GUYS Premieres to Launch TACT's 25th Anniversary Season

TACT has announced the 2017 - '18 season - the company's 25th Anniversary Season - will kick off with a concert style reading of Noel Coward's Salute to the Brave, a World Premiere of the play lost since 1941.

Performances will be at The Scholastic Theatre (557 Broadway, between Prince and Spring Streets) for one night only on Monday, November 13th.

Written by Coward in 1941, on behalf of the British government to encourage the US to enter World War II, Salute to the Brave languished in a drawer once the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and it was deemed no longer necessary. Given TACT's history of presenting lost or forgotten scripts as well as its long standing relationship with the Coward Estate (Long Island Sound - 2002 season; Semi-Monde - 2012 season), the World Premiere of Coward's Salute to the Brave was destined!

Set among the moneyed-set of Connecticut, Salute to the Brave offers a blistering look at the dangers of complacency and isolationism, when a privileged American woman married to a British Naval Commander escapes the bombing of London to the safety of wealth and comfort in the US. What she discovers there and the realizations she makes are at the center of this riveting and timely comedy.

In February, TACT will present the World Premiere of Three Wise Guys, a new comedy based on the stories of Damon Runyon. It's Christmas Eve 1932. Three New York guys, each preoccupied with his own particular problems and not especially fond of the season, find themselves in Good Time Charley's speakeasy. As the bootleg liquor flows, the guys agree to band together and take to the road to avoid the holiday hubbub. Besides a notorious racketeer is after them and better get out of town! Over one long life-changing night, they make some big decisions while inadvertently spreading good cheer to one and all. Based on the Runyon stories "Dancing Dan's Christmas" and "The Three Wise Guys," Three Wise Guys was created especially for TACT.

Performances begin on Tuesday, February 27th with an opening on Sunday, March 11th for a strictly limited run through April 14th. Cast and creative team will be announced at a later date.

"Our new season will be a celebration of the 25 years TACT has been presenting lost, forgotten, under-appreciated and amazing language-driven plays by great writers with our brilliant company of theatre artists." says Founding Executive Artistic Director Scott Alan Evans.

"Our very first production at Theatre Row, many years ago now, was a work created especially for our company, so we are particularly excited to be returning to that model this year with Three Wise Guys - which will feature the company in some very transformative ways. TACT also has a long history with the Noel Coward Estate, so to be kicking off the season with a World Premiere of Salute to the Brave is nothing short of thrilling. Talk about history repeating itself! This amazingly heartfelt and passionate play reminds us of how the more things change the more they stay the same, and how vigilance can never be taken for granted. And it's all told through The Masters amusing, yet laser-sharp lens. It's going to be very exciting. We believe it could very well join the ranks of the many works TACT has unearthed over the years that have gained renewed interest and popularity. Of course, we like to think that TACT's mission has played a serious role in the remarkable revitalization of these great older plays. "

TACT, now celebrating its 25th anniversary season, is a company of theatre artists that reveals, reclaims, and re-imagines great plays of literary merit, creating an intimate theatre experience for its audience by focusing on the text and the actor's ability to bring it to life. From the beginning, TACT made its reputation with its Concert Performance productions: fully rehearsed presentations stripped down to their essence. Staged in our intimate studio space, these performances (currently known as our Salon Series) feature simple staging, costuming, and lighting, refocusing the emphasis of the drama away from spectacle and production and back to the words and the actor - creating theatre in its purest form. This style grew out of the belief that the true magic of theatre lies in the special connection between the artist, the work of art, and the fully engaged audience. TACT is a resident company of NYC's famed Theatre Row and produces their Mainstage Off-Broadway productions there in the Beckett Theatre. In addition, TACT presents the Salon Series in their studio space at 900 Broadway. Both spaces allow audiences to enjoy an up-close and personal experience with both the play and the artists.

For more information, visit TACT on the web at tactnyc.org or call 212-645-8228.

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