ACT Announces 2007-08 Season

The American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco has announced its 2007-2008 season.

According to the company's website, A.C.T. will present Sweeney Todd, The Rainmaker, Speed-the-Plow, The Blood Knot, The Government Inspector, Curse of the Starving Class and 'Tis Pity She's a Whore.

Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's musical masterpiece Sweeney Todd will be presented first, from September 4th through October 14th.  "The hit Broadway revival of Sondheim's musical thriller arrives at A.C.T. for the first stop on its national tour. In this visionary and re-imagined production of Sweeney Todd, the legendary demon barber of Fleet Street still serves up his justice vigilante-style, but director John Doyle has created an edgier, stripped-down staging of Sondheim's masterpiece complete with a multitalented cast of actors playing all the instruments onstage," states the company's website.

Directed by Mark Rucker, N. Richard Nash's The Rainmaker will be presented from October 30th through November 25th. "The Rainmaker centers on the charismatic huckster Starbuck, who travels the heartland selling snake-oil and other dubious miracle cures. At the drought-stricken Curry farm, Starbuck promises to make it rain-for a price, of course. But when he and Lizzie, the lone daughter of the family, discover a genuine chemistry, they begin to consider the possibility of a real miracle."

The theatre will present David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow from January 9th, 2008 through February 3rd.  "In David Mamet's showbiz satire nothing is black or white and everything is on the line for Hollywood producer Bobby Gould. His longtime buddy, Charlie Fox, has just pitched him a sure box-office hit in the form of a crass action movie with a big star attached, but Gould's stunning new secretary, Karen, is pushing an artistic "conscience" flick on him-and she's got the after-hours access to swing the power balance any way she pleases. Who will win Gould's green light? And who's the real player here?"

Athol Fugard's The Blood Knot will follow from February 13th through March 9th.  "In A.C.T.'s new production of this revolutionary play by Athol Fugard, two brothers live together in poverty in South Africa. Zach is dark-skinned; Morrie can pass for white, which he used to do until returning home to Zach's side. As the men struggle to get ahead together in the world, they must each negotiate the consequences of the identities they have-or haven't-chosen for themselves."

Nikolai Gogol's classic The Government Inspector, directed by Carey Perloff, will run next, from March 26th through April 20th.  "The Government Inspector teems with politicians behaving so badly that it could easily be set in Anytown, USA. But this famous satire by Nikolai Gogol (The Overcoat) plays out in a small Russian village, where government leaders and local cronies are willing to give a visiting official money, women, and whatever else he wants-just as long as he gives them a good report back at the capital. But are they even greasing the right man's palms?"

Next up will be Sam Shepard's Curse of the Starving Class, running from April 30th through May 25th.  "This dark satire portrays a malnourished (and rather bizarre) family scrambling for a piece of the American pie. As their farmhouse falls apart around them, so do their delusions of a prosperous life in the mythical American West."

The season will conclude with the classic Jacobean tragedy 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, by John Ford.  Perloff will direct the play, which runs from June 11th through July 6th.   An intensely engaging drama set in a decadent society that prefers scandal and revenge to genuine love, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore pits the sexual taboo of incest against the dirty mechanizations of the church and state."

Visit www.act-sf.org for more information.