The Ensemble Company to Present Central Florida Premiere of SPEECH & DEBATE

The Ensemble Company, now in their fifth year in residence at Penguin Point Productions located within the Oviedo Mall, will continue its 2023 season with the Central Florida premiere of Stephen Karam's Speech & Debate. Karam is the creator of the Pulitzer Prize finalist plays Sons of the Prophet and The Humans (which also won the Tony Award for Best Play).

In this unconventional dark comedy, three misfit high school students in Salem, Oregon form a unique debate club, complete with a musical version of The Crucible, an unusual podcast, and a plot to take down their corrupt drama teacher. With his signature wit, Karam traces the cohorts attempts to fend off the menace of adulthood with caustic humor and subversive antics.

Speech & Debate originally premiered as a workshop at Brown/Trinity Playwrights Repertory Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island in the summer of 2006 before ultimately opening Off-Broadway at the Roundabout Theatre Company in the winter of 2008. It premiered in the UK at Trafalgar Studios, Westminster in the spring of 2017. A film version also premiered in 2017.

Directed by Matthew MacDermid, the producing artistic director, The Ensemble Company production will star company veterans Joey Coombs (The Normal Heart) as Howie and Shelby Mae Randle (Hysteria, Stupid F***ing Bird) as Diwata, with newcomers Luke Haynes as Solomon and Angela Marie Yong as Teacher/Reporter.

Speech & Debate will run March 3rd through 12th, 2023, with performances on Friday and Saturday at 7:00pm, Sundays at 2:00pm, and a special industry night performance on Monday, March 6th at 7:00pm. Tickets are $22 for adults, $20 for seniors (60 and up), and $18 for students (with I.D.) and are available for purchase by visiting www.penguinpointproductions.com/tickets.

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