FEBRUARY 12, 13,19, 20, 26, 27        

PARALLEL LIVES by  Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy

 

In the opening scene, two Supreme Beings plan the beginning of the world with the relish of two slightly sadistic suburban wives decorating a living room. Once they’ve decided on the color scheme of the races, a little concerned that white people will feel slighted being such a boring color, they create sex and the sexes. Afraid women will have too many advantages, the Beings decide to make childbirth painful and to give men enormous egos as compensation. From this moment, the audience is whisked through the outrageous universe of men and women struggling through the common rituals of modern life: teenagers on a date, sisters at their grandmother’s funeral, a man and a woman together in a country-western bar. With boundless humor, PARALLEL LIVES reexamines the ongoing quest to find parity and love in a contest handicapped by capricious gods—or in this case, goddesses.

 

APRIL 9, 10, 16, 17           

DEATH DEFYING ONE ACTS by Mary Miller

​

Three one act plays by award winning Georgia playwright, Mary Miller. FERRIS WHEEL, THINGS I LEARNED IN ISOLATION, and PATTERSON'S. FERRIS WHEEL is the unlikely love story of two lonely people who are forced to ride together on an old country Ferris wheel. She’s afraid of heights and he’s afraid to give up smoking. THINGS I LEARNED IN ISOLATION is Miller's newest addition to her list of plays and deals with her own personal experience during the pandemic lockdown. A funny and poignant conversation. PATTERSON'S takes place in the parking lot outside an old-fashioned funeral home, two high school sweethearts find making amends may require at least one of them to give up the shirt off their back.  In the award-winning comedy Ms. Miller dares to ask the question: Is a funeral home ever the appropriate place to settle an old score? 

 

JUNE 11, 12, 18, 19, 25, 26            

A HIGHER PLACE IN HEAVEN by Pamela Parker

​

A prequel to Pamela Parker's Second Samuel (recently adapted into a motion picture, available to stream), A Higher Place in Heaven is set in 1925, on the front porch of New Hope, the home of Miss Madison. She and her longtime friend and servant, Miss Simpson, live a quiet life just outside the town of Second Samuel with their sons Frisky and US, who more often found at the fishing pond than in the schoolhouse. When Son and his wife Billie Augusta visit, he finds a document that would forever change the history of New Hope and its residents' lives. Filled with laughter and tears, anger and forgiveness, this touching story is one that speaks to divisions that we still struggle with today. It also shows that, no matter our differences, love and grace can bring people together and keep New Hope alive.

​

AUGUST 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28        

BEN BUTLER by Richard Strand

 

When an escaped slave shows up at Fort Monroe demanding sanctuary, General Benjamin Butler is faced with an impossible moral dilemma—follow the letter of the law or make a game-changing move that could alter the course of U.S. history?  “[BEN BUTLER is] part comedy, part historical drama and part biography, often all at once…Just call it splendid…The beauty of the script…is how it approaches thorny topics. In short, it’s a hoot. Rather than dry exposition or long-winded discussions, these men use wordplay that is by turns sarcastic, droll and witty…[Strand’s] comic voice is…clever without being glib, meaningful without being pretentious. It’s a funny and impressive mixture.” —The New York Times. “

 

OCTOBER 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23        

THE COCKTAIL HOUR by A.R. Gurney

 

The time is the mid '70s, the place a city in upstate New York. John, a playwright, returns to his family’s house, bringing with him a new play which he has written about them. His purpose is to obtain their permission to proceed with production, but his wealthy, very proper parents are cautious from the outset. For them the theatre is personified by the gracious, comforting era of the Lunts and Ina Claire, and they are disturbed by the bluntness of modern plays. And there is also John’s sister, Nina, to contend with, although her reservations have to do with the fact that John has given her character such a minor role. Their confrontation takes place during the ritual of the cocktail hour, and as the martinis flow so do the recriminations and revelations, both funny and poignant. 

 

DECEMBER  9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18        

MOON OVER BUFFALO  by Ken Ludwig

 

In the madcap comedy tradition of Lend Me a Tenor, the hilarious Moon Over Buffalo centers on George and Charlotte Hay, fading stars of the 1950s. At the moment, they’re playing Private Lives and Cyrano De Bergerac in rep in Buffalo, New York with five actors. On the brink of a disastrous split-up caused by George’s dalliance with a young ingénue, they receive word that they might just have one last shot at stardom: Frank Capra is coming to town to see their matinee, and if he likes what he sees, he might cast them in his movie remake of The Scarlet Pimpernel. Unfortunately for George and Charlotte, everything that could go wrong does go wrong, abetted by a visit from their daughter’s clueless fiancé and hilarious uncertainty about which play they’re actually performing, caused by Charlotte’s deaf, old stage-manager mother who hates every bone in George’s body.