Prime Stage Theatre Announces GREAT EXPECTATIONS, TWELVE ANGRY MEN, And More for 2024-25 Season
Season also includes productions of Speak, I Never Saw Another Butterfly, and more.
By: A.A. Cristi Jun. 13, 2024
Prime Stage Theatre celebrates its 28th season with a mix of classic and contemporary plays embracing themes of strength, voices and hope.
· Nov. 2-10, 2024 - Great Expectations
· Jan. 17-26, 2025 - Look Forward: The Ruby Bridges Story
· Feb. 28-Mar. 9, 2025 - Speak
· Apr. 3- 5, 2025 - I Never Saw Another Butterfly
· May 2-11, 2025 - Twelve Angry Men
Founded in 1996 with the mission of "bringing literature to life", Prime Stage Theatre has produced over 100 plays and won national recognition as a leader in educational theatre.
"Each of our plays this season has a central focus on youth and family," says Prime Stage Theatre artistic director Dr. Wayne Brinda.
The 2024-25 season features a world premiere of a play adapted from the acclaimed young adult novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Prime Stage Theatre commissioned playwright Laurie Brooks to create the script and has been awarded $15,000 in funding from the National Endowment for the Arts to support the production.
"Speak is a powerful story about the traumatic effects of rape, bullying and social ostracism, and it has resonated enormously with youth, parents and educators," says Dr. Brinda. "We've already had people thanking us for the courage to bring it to the stage."
Prime Stage Theatre has also made a special commitment to promoting accessibility for special needs audiences. It is the first and only Pittsburgh theatre company to attain Certified Sensory Inclusive status through KultureCity, the nation's leading nonprofit on sensory accessibility for those with invisible disabilities. In 2022, Prime Stage Theatre audio describer Nathan Ruggles won a national Achievement Award in Audio Description from the American Council of the Blind.
The theatre offers student matinee performances for each play, as well as an array of teacher workshops demonstrating how theatre enhances literacy and classroom learning.
Prime Stage Theatre 2024-25 season
Nov. 1-10, 2024
Great Expectations.
By Neil Bartlett; directed by Art DeConciliis
This imaginative English Touring Theatre adaptation brings Charles Dickens' classic rags-to-riches tale to vibrant new life. Follow the extraordinary adventures of steadfast orphan Pip, who rises from rural poverty to the life of a London gentleman as he seeks to fulfill his romantic destiny with the heiress Estella.
Jan. 17-26, 2025
Look Forward: The Ruby Bridges Story
By Natalia Temesgen; directed by Linda Haston
The year is 1960. An extraordinary 6-year-old named Ruby Bridges becomes the first African American student to attend an all-white grade school in New Orleans, Louisiana. Experience her remarkable journey as she discovers the true promise of America while blazing a trail for generations to follow.
Feb. 28-Mar. 9, 2025
Speak
Adapted by Laurie Brooks; directed by Dana Hardy
Based on the best-selling book by Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak tells the story of Melinda, a high school freshman, who refuses to speak after suffering sexual assault and then bullying and ostracism from her classmates. Will the support of a teacher and Melinda's immersion into artmaking help her find the strength to "speak" again? Produced in partnership with Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, this project will provide a voice for those who may have felt silenced, as we bring adolescents, educators and parents together to address an important topic.
Apr. 3-5, 2025
I Never Saw Another Butterfly
By Celeste Raspanti; directed by Wayne Brinda
In the Terezin concentration camp, Austrian artist Friedl Dicker-Brandeis teaches Jewish children to make poems and drawings in secret art classes. Witness her passion, the children's creativity and the irrepressible power of Art to bring hope and healing into the darkest hours of the Holocaust. Produced as part of the enGAGE genocide education program in partnership with Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh.
May 2-11, 2025
Twelve Angry Men
Adapted by Sherman L. Sergel; directed by Shane Valenzi
A jury of twelve ordinary men are charged with deciding the fate of a teenager on trial for murdering his father. Can they overcome their own backgrounds and biases as they struggle to render a fair life-or-death verdict? A new take on an American theatre classic, based on the Emmy award-winning 1954 television movie by Reginald Rose.
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