Come Blow Your Horn (September 27 – October 13, 2007)

A Comedy by Neil Simon

Vintage Neil Simon at his best!

Harry Baker, owner of the largest artificial fruit business in the east, has two sons. Alan is a thirty-three year old playboy; Buddy, a different twenty-one year old with an urge to assert himself. These two are continually trying their father’s easily abused patience. Alan works only two days a week, and plays for five. Buddy, hitherto an obedient son, has moved into his brother’s bachelor apartment leaving a rebellious letter by way of explanation. The richly comic complications that ensue are unfailingly inventive and arise out of character and are never mere gags

A Streetcar Named Desire (November 15 – December 1, 2007)

A Drama by Tennessee Williams

“One of the greatest dramas in theatre, adored by audiences since its Broadway opening in 1949”

The play reveals to the very depths, the character of Blanche du Bois, a woman whose life has been undermined by her romantic illusions, which lead her to reject – so far as possible – the realities of life with which she is faced and which she consistently ignores. The pressures brought to bear by her sister Stella with whom she goes to New Orleans to live, intensified by Stella’s very earthy young husband, Stanley, lead to a revelation of her tragic self-delusion and ultimate madness.

‘Art’ (January 10-26, 2008)

A Comedy by Yasmina Reza translated by Chrisopher Hampton

“How much would you pay for a white painting?”

One of Marc’s best friends, Serge, has just purchased a white painting. To Marc, the painting is a joke, but Serge insists that Marc doesn’t have the proper standards to judge the work. Another friend, Ivan, although burdened by his own problems, likes the work. Lines are drawn and these old friends square off over the canvas, using it as an excuse to relentlessly batter one another over various failures. Arguments become more personal. Serge gives Marc a felt pen and dares him, “Go on!”. Friendship is finally tested but the aftermath affirms the power of those bonds.

The Little Foxes (March 6-22, 2008)

A Drama by Lillian Hellman

“What was a man in a wheelchair doing on a staircase?”

Picture a charming home in the American south, but into the scene put the despotic Hubbard family: Ben, possessive and scheming; Oscar, cruel and arrogant; Leo, weak and unprincipled; Regina, wickedly clever. In contrast, meet lonely, intimidated Birdie; wistful Alexandra, Regina’s daughter; and Horace, ailing husband of Regina. The Hubbard men lack a large amount of money to build a cotton mill. This, they hope, will come from Horace who has been in hospital with a heart ailment. Theft ensues, but Regina learns of the plot and after her husband is stricken with a severe attack, blackmails her brothers.

An Italian Straw Hat (May 1-17, 2008)

A Musical Farce by Eugene Labiche and Marc-Michel translated by Lynn and Theodore Hoffmann

“Sight gags, clever word play, screwball comedy … and all embellished with song and dance!”

In this renowned comedy with songs in the French 19th century farcical vaudeville tradition, the hero, M. Fadinard, is about to get married when an attractive lady and her irate lover pop up. They announce that his horse has compromised her by eating her rare Italian straw showFive and that they will not leave the bridal chamber until Fadinard has produced an identical one. The mayhem that ensues – mistaken identities, characters hiding behind closed doors, and all the other devices of French farce – create an evening of unparalleled hilarity. And all embellished with song and dance!