THE FLICK, THE TEMPEST, 1984 Among Jobsite Theater's 2017-18 Season

Jobsite Theater has announces the 2017-18 season, our 15th as resident theater company of the Straz Center in downtown Tampa.

The season features a Pulitzer Prize winner, one of the most important pieces of musical theater ever written, a timeless and timely fantasy, a powerful new play by Israel Horovitz, an exciting adaptation of one of the most influential pieces of 20th century literature, and a contemporary classic that swept 1992 playwrighting awards.

"Every one of these exquisite stories showcase people struggling with their identities and humanity in the face of what is sometimes brutal, radical change. I can't wait for Bay Area audiences to join us in our home for another fantastic year of shows. We're looking forward to this journey of self-discovery and uncharted territory as we all collectively learn to navigate this brave new world." - David M. Jenkins, Producing Artistic Director

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The Flick, by Annie Baker
Aug. 30 - Sep. 24, 2017

WINNER: 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 2013 Obie Award for Playwrighting, 2013 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, 2013 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, 2013 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

In a run-down movie theater in central Massachusetts, three underpaid employees mop the floors and attend to one of the last 35-millimeter film projectors in the state. Their tiny battles and not-so-tiny heartbreaks play out in the empty aisles, becoming more gripping than the lackluster, second-run movies on screen. With keen insight and a finely-tuned comic eye, The Flick is a hilarious and heart-rending cry for authenticity in a fast-changing world. Directed by Summer Bohnenkamp, who last helmed Jobsite's critically-lauded and award-winning production of Time Stands Still. Bay area theatergoers may recall Baker's work from the recent production of The Aliens at Stageworks Theater, directed by Jobsite Producing Artistic Director David M. Jenkins.

The Threepenny Opera, music by Kurt Weill and book by Bertolt Brecht
Oct. 18 - Nov. 12, 2017

Set in London in the 1800s, The Threepenny Opera is a musical satire about a notorious bandit who marries a girl much to the chagrin of her father, forcing the peeved patriarch to do everything in his power to imprison his son-in-law. Ahead of its time, the political and social themes in this iconic piece of musical theater get at the corruption of humanity and how it consumes us and forces us to consume one another. Last revived on Broadway in a Tony Award-winning production starring Alan Cumming and Cyndi Lauper, The Threepenny Opera must be recognized as the grandfather of musicals like Cabaret and Chicago that show us singing and dancing our way to our own destruction. David M. Jenkins directs with Jeremy Douglass set to return after previously helming LIZZIE's six-piece band (several of whom also return here to fill out the seven-piece on-stage orchestra) as music director.

The Tempest, by William Shakespeare
Jan. 17 - Feb. 18, 2018

Jobsite is thrilled to continue our commitment to making the Bard accessible to regional audiences with this delightful fantasy. Our production reimagines the character of Prospero as a woman, to be played by Jobsite ensemble veteran Roxanne Fay. Roxanne has previously been seen in our humble cockpit as Touchstone in As You Like It, Feste in Twelfth Night, and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing as well as Madame in our Best of the Bay Award winning production of The Maids. On a distant island a woman waits. Robbed of her position, power, and wealth her enemies have left her in isolation. But this is no ordinary woman, nor an ordinary island. She is a magician, able to control the very elements and bend nature to her will. When the vessel carrying those who wronged her appears in the distance, she creates a vast magical storm to bring them to her -- then they awake finding themselves in a place where nothing is as it seems. Jobsite will again double the number of daytime matinees made available to middle and high schools with their Shakespeare program in 2018 for a total of 12 to take place over a period of four weeks. Even our regularly scheduled performances are the perfect introduction to Shakespeare for young theatergoers and families! Directed by David M. Jenkins.

A Man in Snow, by Israel Horovitz
Mar. 7 - Apr. 1, 2018

Jobsite's relationship with internationally-renown filmmaker, poet, and playwright Israel Horovitz was recognized last year with a Best of the Bay Award from Creative for Best Link to the Greater Theater World after staging his Lebensraum and doing several other readings of his plays since 2015. This time Jobsite takes on one of his newest plays, recently seen at his Gloucester Stage and then New York's prestigious LaMaMa. A Man in Snow is a powerful family drama with both humor and heart. David, recently retired and mourning the loss of his son, revisits Alaska's Mt. McKinley after 25 years. This time, however, he's not there to climb it but to guide a group of Japanese honeymooners who hope to conceive a child under the spell of the Northern Lights. This is passionate, compelling storytelling that is guaranteed to have audiences on the edge of their seats. Taking on the role of David is long-time Jobsite Artistic Associate Paul J. Potenza, who most recently stunned regional audiences and critics alike as Ulysses in Annapurna. Paul's work on our stage has also been lauded in productions such as The Pillowman, The Boys Next Door, American Buffalo, The Guys, Blackbird, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Directed by David M. Jenkins.

1984, adapted by Michael Gene Sullivan from the novel by George Orwell
April 25 - May 20, 2018

1984 warns us with the story of Winston Smith, a small cog in the giant machine-state of Oceania. Physically and mentally under the omnipresent eye of Big Brother, Winston has been caught struggling for scraps of love and freedom in a world awash with distrust and violence. With the brutal "help" of four Party Members, Winston is forced to confess his Thoughtcrimes before an unseen Inquisitor and the audience -- who act as a silent witness. This ferocious and provocative adaptation of one of the most prescient works of literature was commissioned in 2008 by the Actor's Gang under the direction of Tim Robbins. Jobsite has history here, having produced the Actor's Gang/Tim Robbins EMBEDDED in 2008 to high acclaim. With 1984 Jobsite adds a second show in the season that will be offered up as weekday matinee field trips, this one specifically for high school audiences. Playwright Michael Gene Sullivan is a resident playwright for the San Francisco Mime Troupe and was given Stanford University's Equity Award for using his work to achieve racial, gender, and age balance on stage. Director TBA.

Dancing at Lunaghsa
June 13 - July 8, 2018

WINNER: 1991 Olivier Award Best Play, 1992 Tony Award Best Play, 1992 New York Critics Circle Best Play, 1992 Outer Critics Circle Best Play.

This extraordinary play is the story of five unmarried sisters eking out their lives in a small village in Ireland in 1936. We meet them at the time of the festival of Lughnasa, which celebrates the pagan god of the harvest with drunken revelry and dancing. Their spare existence is interrupted by brief, colorful bursts of music from the radio, their only link to the romance and hope of the world at large. The action of the play is told through the memory of the illegitimate son of one of the sisters as he remembers the five women who raised him: his mother and four maiden aunts. He is only seven in 1936, the year his elderly uncle, a priest, returns after serving for twenty-five years as a missionary in a Ugandan leper colony. For the young boy, two other disturbances occur that summer. The sisters acquire their first radio, whose music transforms them from correct Catholic women to shrieking, stomping banshees in their own kitchen. And he meets his father for the first time, a charming Welsh drifter who strolls up the lane and sweeps his mother away in an elegant dance across the fields. From these small events spring the cracks that destroy the foundation of the family forever. Director TBA.

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All performances take place in the Shimberg Playhouse at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts with the exception of The Threepenny Opera, which will play the Straz's Jaeb Theater.

A season ticket to all six shows will go on sale to the public on May 19 for 30% off the price of single tickets plus substantially reduced fees. Season ticket holders enjoy great benefits all season long like free ticket exchanges, free admission into all side projects, the ability to purchase extra tickets at a discount, and special offers from our partners like the Straz Center. To be added to the waiting list for season tickets, please email tickets@jobsitetheater.org. Single tickets will go on sale in August for $29.50 each plus fees collected by the Straz Center. Preview performances to all productions will be made available for $15. To learn more information about the daytime matinees for The Tempest and 1984 contact the Straz Center's group sales office at 813.222.1016 or groups@strazcenter.org.

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