I had initially hoped to put up a look at the upcoming seasons for 12 different theatres/stage companies. But, after working on profiles of 8 different ones, I realize that is a utopian, daunting task_ if there ever was one!
But, today, I am concluding with not one, but two very unique college-town stage theatres in both Virginia and North Carolina.
I have seen about a half-dozen plays at Live Arts in Charlottesville, Va. My good friend Greg Wood, a fellow Radford University alum, was in their production of "The Good Times are Killing Me" last spring. I also enjoyed their production of Eric Bogosian's "suburbia" several seasons ago.
This year, Live Arts starts off with two interesting plays (the venue actually has two different stages which allows them to have simultaneous productions). The first is "The Clean House," Sarah Ruhl's look at the days of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allen Poe. It runs through Oct. 13.
The second play is from one of my favorite playwrights David Mamet, who is seemingly more preoccupied with his action series "The Unit" these days. It is "American Buffalo," which was made into a 1996 film with Dustin Hoffman and Dennis Franz. The 1975 play, which is set in Chicago, is arguably the best American play to ever take place in an antique shop. It runs through Oct. 20.
Live Arts will also stage Edward Albee's eyebrow raising play "The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?" from Jan. 25-Feb. 16, 2008.
And, they will produce "Mother Courage and Her Children" from March 28-April 19, 2008.
Last season, Man Bites Dog Theater in Durham, NC, produced a rendition of "The Goat" in addition to an all-African American version of Anton Chekov's "The Cherry Orchard," which got the attention of the North Carolina Public Radio series "The State of Things."
This season, the theatre kicks off their season with "Blue/Orange," which is also in the radio play catalog for LA Theatre Works. The play runs through Oct. 13. "Blue/Orange" by Joe Penhall, with direction from Natalie Sewell, is a stinging satire about race, madness and power set in a London psychiatric hospital.
Man Bites Dog Theater (they spell their theatre with an 'er') continues their season with a production of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize winner for drama "Rabbit Hole" by David Lindsay-Adaire. The play looks at how a life-shaking accident turns a family's life upside down. The production will be directed by Jeff Storer, and it runs from Dec. 6-22.
For more info:
Live Arts Theatre
434-977-4177
Man Bites Dog Theatre
919-682-3343
http://www.manbitesdogtheater.org
LA Theatre Works
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