Magic Theatre's 2017-18 Season to Feature Three World Premieres

Magic Theatre (Artistic Director, Loretta Greco; Managing Director, Jaimie Mayer) announced its 2017-2018 season today, which includes the World Premiere of Barbara Hammond's THE EVA TRILOGY; the World Premiere of John Kolvenbach's REEL TO REEL; the World Premiere of Jessica Hagedorn's THE GANGSTER OF LOVE; and a fourth production to be announced at a later date. The season will also include the annual Martha Heasley Cox Virgin Play Festival (showcasing exciting new work from bold emerging playwrights), and marks the fifty-first year of operations and the tenth year under the leadership of Artistic Director Loretta Greco.

"The playwrights of our coming season are united in their unmistakable voices and unforgettable theatrical styles," says Artistic Director, Loretta Greco. "Each is wrestling with the power of time; the way our humanity endures and transforms through a passage of generations. How do we respect the past and yet still transcend it? Is there a way to have a measurable impact on an evolving world? What can we do in the here and now to connect with others? Magic will continue to be a place where we can sit together and struggle with the big questions, and I look forward to welcoming you."

Magic Theatre's 2017-2018 season features:

World Premiere
THE EVA TRILOGY
By Barbara Hammond

Directed by Loretta Greco

Fall 2017

Barbara Hammond's THE EVA TRILOGY is a lyrical Irish epic spanning thirty years over the course of three plays: EDEN, ENTER THE ROAR, and NO COAST ROAD. In Hammond's trilogy, an Irish expat named Eva returns home from her rebellious life in Paris and makes an irreparable choice when her ailing mother's fate is placed in her hands. Her decision becomes legendary within her community and proceeds to haunt her through the rest of her life. Each play in the trilogy champions its own theatrical landscape, reflecting the tremendous range of Hammond's writing and the evolving state of her subject. Magic will be the first theatre to take on all three parts in a single production. Julia McNeal (FRED'S DINER, A LIE OF THE MIND) will star as Eva.

World Premiere

REEL TO REEL
Written and Directed by John Kolvenbach
Winter 2018

John Kolvenbach (SISTER PLAY, MRS. WHITNEY, GOLDFISH) returns to Magic to direct the World Premiere of his own REEL TO REEL. Fascinated by the relationship between sound and memory, Kolvenbach has written the story of a fifty-five-year marriage as told through the mundane sentiments of recorded conversations, arguments, and household noises. What emerges is a collage of love, aging, and death captured on audio tape. Will Marchetti (of Magic's original FOOL FOR LOVE) will lead the cast.

SURPISE PRODUCTION

To Be Announced!

Spring 2018

World Premiere
THE GANGSTER OF LOVE
By Jessica Hagedorn

Directed by Loretta Greco
Summer 2018

The season ends in Spring with the world premiere of THE GANGSTER OF LOVE from Jessica Hagedorn, who presents the theatrical adaptation of her own story of immigration from Manila, based on her book of the same name. Raquel "Rocky" Rivera and her eccentric family settle in the Haight during the 1970s, opening for us a window to a dynamic period of conflict, social change, and artistic flourishing in San Francisco. The lauded city of poets, rebels, and thriving musicians will be reclaimed at Magic through the eyes of Hagedorn's immigrant artists. Featuring live music, poetry reading, and the music video as key narrative forms, this is a story 20 years in the making. THE GANGSTER OF LOVE is a Magic Gerbode commissioned new play.

Complete casting and creative teams for each production will be announced at later dates.

In December 2017, Magic Theatre will once again feature the Martha Heasley Cox Virgin Play Festival, Magic's annual insiders' look at plays in the making. The 2017 Virgin Play Series will showcase the next generation of bold theatrical voices, working alongside Magic's family of visionary mid-career writers. All three World Premieres of this season were gestated within the Virgin Play Festival in 2016, and Magic's consistent pipeline from workshop to production will once again be shared in 2017.

Since its inception in 1967, Magic Theatre has fostered courageous playwrights and produced explosive, entertaining, and ideologically robust plays. Magic believes that if we demonstrate faith in a writer's vision by providing a safe, rigorous, and innovative artistic home, where a full body of work can be imagined, developed, and produced, then writers, in turn, will thrive. Seventeen of the last nineteen world premiere plays developed and produced at Magic have enjoyed extended life in cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington DC, London, Manila, and Seoul.

With its intimate thrust stage, Magic is the perfect venue for audiences to experience new work up close. That intimacy extends beyond the mainstage through a number of special events: Community Nights that offer affordable access for the next generation of theatre audiences, Friday night actor Talkbacks, New Work Salons with playwrights and directors, and the Martha Heasley Cox Virgin Play Festival. Magic patrons enjoy unparalleled access to new plays, playwrights, and the process of taking theatre from the page to the stage.

Page 3 / Magic Theatre's 2017-2018 Season Announcement

Magic is also proud to be a community partner. Through its "Sheparding America" celebration of Sam Shepard's legacy in the Bay Area, its Laney College Initiative and Magic: Oakland Annex, the Magic Apprenticeship Program, and active collaborations with A.C.T., Campo Santo, Word for Word, Intersection for the Arts, and The Commonwealth Club, Magic is a local industry leader.

Subscription Information:

Subscriptions for the 2017-2018 Season are now available for purchase. Subscribing is the best (and most cost-effective) way to ensure your spot on the front lines of exciting new theatre. Subscriptions also come with a number of perks: free ticket exchange up until 24 hours before the performance, guaranteed best seating, exclusive pre-show dramaturgy - all in addition to receiving a 35% discount when compared to purchasing single tickets. Current subscribers can renew by mail, phone, or in person at the theatre and will receive priority access to their current seat locations. New subscribers can purchase subscriptions and will receive the best available seats within the requested sections.

Subscriptions are available for purchase online at MagicTheatre.org; by calling Magic Theatre at (415) 441-8822; or visiting Magic Theatre's Box Office, Monday - Friday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. during non-performance dates. On performance dates, the Box Office is open Tuesday - Saturday from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Sunday one hour prior to the show. Magic Theatre is located in the Marina District of San Francisco, at the historic Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture (Fort Mason, 2 Marina Blvd., Building D, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94123). For more information, visit MagicTheatre.org or call the box office at (415) 441-8822.

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