TACT/The Actors Company Theatre has announced its 2014/2015 Season, the company's 22nd. The critically-acclaimed and Drama Desk nominated Off-Broadway company "dedicated to presenting neglected or rarely produced plays of literary merit," will offer two works featuring strong, powerful female characters. The Killing of Sister George, the ground-breaking play by Frank Marcus and Abundance, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley's (Crimes of the Heart) tall tale set in the Great American West, will be presented at The Beckett Theatre (410 West 42nd Street - between 9th & 10th Avenues) on Theatre Row.
TACT will open the 2014/15 season with The Killing of Sister George, the controversial 1964 play by
Frank Marcus about sexual identity, power and politics in a changing world. To the world at large and even to herself, June Buckridge IS Sister George, beloved village nurse on "Applehurst," a popular BBC radio soap opera. But when radio executives decide to give ratings a boost by killing off her character, June's already precarious private life threatens to crumble, exposing her as the gin-swilling, cigar-chomping tyrant she really is.
"
Frank Marcus's provocative play has been on our to-do list for some time now," declares
Mr. Evans. "Bold and inky-dark, this comedy shares a lot of sensibilities with the plays of
Joe Orton and we're thrilled to have the opportunity to explore its rich landscape with our audiences. It also makes a fascinating pairing with
Beth Henley's stunning play Abundance. Both plays deal with strong women in powerful and complex relationships. And we're thrilled to have
Drew Barr back with us to direct again this season. His last play with us, Lovers, was such a gorgeous production."
Performances will begin on Tuesday, September 23rd, 2014. Opening Night is Thursday, October 7th at 7:30pm. Performances will continue through Saturday, November 1st.
TACT will continue its 2014/15 season in February with
Beth Henley's 1990 play Abundance, an epic tale of friendship set against the backdrop of the sweeping American West. Bess and Macon, two mail order brides, are lured to the plains of Wyoming by the promise of new beginnings. Spanning a 25-year friendship, this fierce and funny adventure is as wild and unpredictable as the untamed West itself, unearthing along the way the dark underside of American mythology and the unbreakable bonds of female friendship.
"I am thrilled that TACT will be kicking off 2015 with this wonderful, stirring play," exclaims Ms. Thompson. "Ms. Henley, with her patented quirk and humor, has conjured a post-modern romance of the American West that is both epic and intimate in its approach. The result is a thoroughly modern and moving view of female friendship, ambition and betrayal."
Performances will begin on Tuesday, February 17th, 2015. Opening Night is Tuesday, March 3rd at 7:30pm. Performances will continue through March 28th.
The cast and creative team for both productions will be announced at a later date.
TACT's Mainstage season is augmented by its celebrated Salon Series of concert readings as well as its new play development program, newTACTics, both of which are presented in their studio space at 900 Broadway.
As the company heads into its 22nd Season, it also moves into a brave new era as Founding member and Co-Artistic Director,
Cynthia Harris, steps down from her artistic director duties and moves into her new role as the Chair of the newly formed Advisory Council. In addition, Ms. Harris will remain an active member of the
Acting Company, and a member of the TACT Board of Directors. In a statement Ms. Harris says "these last 21 years have been quite extraordinary and I feel privileged to have been able to help build the company to its present state. It is remarkable how much the company has accomplished and how we have gone from a little known entity to a company of excellence - one that is recognized for its fine artistic values." The artistic direction of the company will continue this year under the guidance of the remaining two Co-Artistic Directors, Founding member
Scott Alan Evans and
Jenn Thompson.
The Killing of Sister George and Abundance will both have the following performance schedule: Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday at 7:30pm; Friday at 8pm; Saturday at 2pm & 8pm; Sunday at 2pm. Tickets are $15-$58 and will be available through TeleCharge - www.telecharge.com/(212) 239-6200. They will also be available at the Theatre Row box office (410 West 42nd Street - between 9th & 10th Avenues) between 12pm and 8pm daily.
TACT/The Actors Company Theatre (
Scott Alan Evans &
Jenn Thompson, Co-Artistic Directors) is dedicated to presenting neglected or rarely produced plays of literary merit, with a focus on creating theatre from its essence: the text and the actor's ability to bring it to life.
TACT's celebrated company of actors was drawn together in 1992 by a love of the literature of the theatre. Since that time, they have grown to become a true ensemble: a group that has developed a common vocabulary and a technique based on their specific artistic vision and collective body of work. TACT Company Members, whose cumulative experience includes scores of significant roles on and off Broadway, in the country's finest regional theatres, and in many films and television shows, have received Emmy, Obie, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards, in addition to several Tony nominations.
Heralded by the Wall Street Journal as "The 2012 Company of the Year," TACT has enjoyed a run of successful productions since it first made its move from its "in-concert" style performances to fully-staged productions in the 2006/07 season. Since that time TACT has become a celebrated presence Off-Broadway with their presentations of such diverse and critically-acclaimed works as
Tennessee Williams' The Eccentricities of a Nightingale, (included in The New York Times "Top 10 Theatre Picks for 2008"),
David Storey's Home, The Sea by
Edward Bond, Sir
Alan Ayckbourn's Bedroom Farce,
Arthur Miller'sIncident at Vichy,
Sidney Howard's The Late Christopher Bean, John
Cecil Holm and
George Abbott's Three Men on a Horse, T.S Eliot's The Cocktail Party(included in the Wall Street Journal's "Best of 2010" list), the 2012 Drama Desk-nominated production of
Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers,
Anita Loos' Happy Birthday and
Brian Friel's Lovers. Last season, the company presented productions of
William Inge's Natural Affection and
Christopher Durang's Beyond Therapy.
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