The Off-Central Players to Present Four MainStage Productions & More in 2024

After only a two-week holiday break, The Off-Central Players are back in rehearsals all through January to kick off 2024 that features four mainstage productions plus a stand-up comedy series. 
 

Opening February 1st and running through the 11th is the US Premier of Ben Randall’s Whiskey& Soda. In the play, it’s December 17th, 1979. Margaret Thatcher is visiting Washington D.C. Whilst preparing for her first speech at the White House, she invites a guest for drinks. The guest is John Lennon. Thatcher has a deal for John that could change the course of his life. Their fears of the past and their dreams of the future come to the surface. It is these powerful beliefs and their force of personality that leads to a dramatic and explosive finale. Shortly after, John would go onto to make his last album, Double Fantasy and Margaret would deliver to the White House one of her most notorious speeches… was it all because of these drinks? 

February 29th -March10 it’s Becky Mode’s Fully Committed. This devastatingly funny solo performance follows a day in the life of Sam Peliczowski, an out-of-work actor who mans the red-hot reservation line at Manhattan’s number-one restaurant. Coercion, threats, bribes, histrionics—a cast of desperate callers will stop at nothing in their zeal to land a prime reservation, or the right table. While juggling scheming socialites, name-dropping wannabes, fickle celebrities and egomaniacal bosses, can he manage to can he manage to look out for himself?  

April 4-14th James McLure’s Bourbon & Laundry. The setting is the front porch of Roy and Elizabeth’s home in Maynard, Texas. Elizabeth and her friend Hattie are whiling away the time folding laundry, sipping bourbon and Coke, and gossiping about the many open secrets of small-town life. They are joined by the self-righteous Amy Lee who, among other tidbits, can’t resist blurting out that Roy has been seen around town with another woman.  

Also performed the same night is McLure’s Lonestar. Roy, a brawny, macho type who had once been a local high-school hero, is back in town after a hitch in Vietnam and trying to reestablish his position in the community. Joined by his younger brother, Ray, Roy sets about consuming a case of beer while regaling Ray with tales of his military and amorous exploits. With the arrival of Cletis, the newlywed son of the local hardware store owner, the underpinnings of Roy’s world begin to collapse as it gradually comes out that Ray had slept with his brother’s wife. These two stand-alone one-acts are presented back-to-back in the same evening making for a Texas Double -Feature.  

After the four mainstage productions, stand-up comedy takes over at The Off-Central.   

Coming in May it’s The Comedy Showcase Series.   With a roster of new acts each date, (Saturday nights May 4, 11, 18 and 25) The Off-Central features the finest and funniest professional comics, twelve in all, hosted by Ward Smith. 

That’s a whole lot of laughs all before summer.   

Tickets and season passes are available now at www.theofcentral.com

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