coming soon: special event
Miss Margaret’s Barton Cottage Christmas Surprise
December 13-21
In partnership with Shoreline Playwrights, we present Laura Thoma's Christmas play seen in development at Drama Works in 2023.
Eight years after Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, the adventurous Margaret Dashwood returns home to surprise her family for the holidays. The surprise is hers when her former love interest, Lavinia, arrives at the cottage. As family frivolity descends into jealousy and betrayal, Margaret is left to face her true feelings and decide what she's willing to do to save Christmas.
playing recently
Venus In Fur
By David Ives
Thomas, a beleaguered playwright/director, is desperate to find an actress to play Vanda, the female lead in his adaptation of the classic tale Venus in Fur. Into his audition room walks a vulgar and equally desperate actress---oddly enough named Vanda. Though utterly wrong for the sophisticated part, Vanda exhibits a strange command of the material piquing his interest in her seductive talents and secretive manner. As the two work through the script, they blur the line between play and reality in this mysterious, funny, erotic play.
October 25th & 26th and November 1st & 2nd at 7:30pm; October 27th and November 3rd at 3:00pm.
Starring Eric Michaelian and Chloe Parrington. Directed by Patrick Barry.
Two Rooms
By Lee Blessing
One room is bare and is somewhere in Beirut, Lebanon, where an American, Michael, is being held hostage by Arab terrorists. The other is in the United States which his wife Lainie has stripped of furniture so that, symbolically, she can somewhat share his ordeal. Lainie is visited by Ellen, a cool-headed almost detached professional from the State Department who keeps Lainie informed of any progress while trying to get her to see the "bigger picture." Walker, a reporter, is trying to get Lainie to give him a story or to get her to do an interview on TV to help put pressure on the Government to get Michael released. Imaginary conversations between Michael and Lainie give each other hope.
Featuring Emily Yates as Lainie, Tristan Cole as Michael, Frank DiCaro as Walker, and Alicia James as Ellen. Directed by Ed Wilhelms.
Fractured Resilience: Two One-Act Plays
In partnership with Shoreline Playwrights, we offer a weekend of performances featuring two new plays by Teresa Mella Fogel and Laura Thoma centered on the theme of "Fractured Resilience."
Community Service
A teenage girl is sentenced to 5 weeks of community service in a nursing home for her petty crime. Paired with a cantankerous old woman the two find commonality in their dark view of the world.
Meet Me in the Lobby
While staying at the Savoy, Flossy Henshaw finds a museum whose guide seems to hold the keys to her past, present, and future. Something about one of the paintings and that small statue connects her to another time, place, and a very special person. If only she could remember who?
Five Women Wearing the Same Dress
By Alan Ball, Academy Award-winning screenwriter of American Beauty and creator of the hit television series Six Feet Under
During an ostentatious wedding reception at a Knoxville, Tennessee estate, five reluctant bridesmaids hide out in an upstairs bedroom, each with their own reason to avoid the proceedings below. They are Francis, a painfully sweet but sheltered fundamentalist; Mindy, the cheerful wise-cracking lesbian sister of the groom; Georgeanne, whose heartbreak over her own failed marriage triggers outrageous behavior; Meredith, the bride's younger sister whose precocious rebelliousness masks a dark secret, and Tricia, a jaded beauty who is a die-hard cynic when it comes to men. As the afternoon wears on, these five very different women joyously discover a common bond in this wickedly funny, irreverent and touching celebration of the women's spirit.
" . . . (a) wonderfully entertaining play." The New York Post
Featuring Jessica Chan, Holly DeMorrow, Dorian Mendez, Jennifer Nadeau, and Katherine Scalaro. Directed by Joel Stedman.
The God of Hell
By Sam Shepard, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Buried Child and Fool for Love
A brilliantly provocative satire featuring Frank and Emma, a quiet, respectable couple who raise cows on their Wisconsin farm. Soon after they agree to put up Frank's old friend, Haynes, who is on the lam from a secret government project involving plutonium, they're visited by Welch, a government bureaucrat, his aggressive patriotism puts Frank, Emma and Haynes on the defensive, transforming a heartland American household into a scene of promoting a radioactive brand of conformity.
"Deliriously entertaining and deeply scary . . . " The New York Times
Featuring Brian Cunningham as Frank, Debi Freund as Emma, John Elsenbeck as Haynes, and Steve Spartano as Welch. Directed by Ed Wilhelms.
The Baltimore Waltz
By Paula Vogel, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Indecent and How I Learned To Drive
When Anna, an unmarried schoolteacher, is diagnosed with a new malady with a high risk factor for elementary school teachers, she and her brother Carl take flight to Europe. While Anna drowns herself in the sensuality of food and romance Carl becomes involved in a wild Third Mannish espionage scheme to find a cure for his sister. When their European trip becomes increasingly odd, Anna realizes something is not quite right.
Featuring Sarah Paprocki as Anna, Paul Donovan-Lietz as Carl, and Eric Michaelian as The Third Man. Stage managed by Joy Shih. Directed and designed by Patrick Barry.
Winner of the 1992 Obie Award for Best Off-Broadway Play.
