Key West Florida Weekly

TheatreXP announces lineup for Summer Stage 2018



 

 

Looking for something other than the Duval Crawl to do this summer? How about some top-grade professional theater? Tickets for Summer Stage 2018 are now on sale.

Opening the season June 26-30 at the Woman’s Club, 319 Duval St., is Fringe Theatre’s production of “The Gin Game.” The play by D.L. Coburn won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Drama Desk Award and several Tonys in its Broadway run. It was a smash hit for Fringe’s main season and has been brought back by popular demand.

“The Gin Game” stars Vanessa McCaffrey and Don Bearden as a withdrawn woman and a surly man living in a seedy retirement home and coming to terms about life, love and living over a nightly game of cards. The play’s hilarity is matched only by its poignancy. John Reynolds directs. All curtains are at 7 pm.

Up next this summer, on the mainstage at the Red Barn Theatre: the world premiere of Bob Bowersox’s “Under the Hunter’s Moon.” The playwright’s previous works — “Person of Interest,” “Moment of Grace,” “The Poetry of Hearts” and “The Return” — all have garnered rave reviews from audiences and critics alike.

“Under the Hunter’s Moon” centers on the biggest star in Hollywood, who begins to question his life’s path when he unexpectedly runs into a long-lost love he hasn’t seen in 35 years. The playwright stars along with David Black, Melody G. Moore, Paula Cabot, Mathias Maloff, Tammy Shanley and Arthur Crocker. Patrick New of Steppenwolf and Goodman theaters in Chicago directs. All curtains are at 8 p.m.

At 7 p.m. Monday, July 9, TheatreXP presents a staged reading of “Sideways,” Rex Pickett’s recent Broadway version of Alexander Payne’s hilarious 2004 movie. Pickett has combined elements of his original novel and the movie to very funny effect. The reading at the Red Barn will feature several top Key West actors, including Ross Pipkin, Maloff, Moore and Shanley. Open-seating admissoin is free. The reading is part of the statewide South Florida Theatre League’s Summer Reading Festival.

At 8 p.m. Monday, July 16, “Twice Told Tales” returns to the Studios of Key West. Presented by TheatreXP and The Studios in the latter’s Helmerich Theatre, “Twice Told Tales” was the hit of last year’s Summer Stage. The intriguing theatrical event centers on monologues, this year with eight directors each directing two actors in delivering the same monologue but in completely different ways. The monologues — each told twice — will run consecutively, illuminating just how much direction and approach can alter a piece of theater.

“Fresh Ink Shorts,” the final event of Summer Stage, takes place at 8 p.m. Friday, July 27, in the Back Room Theatre at the Key West Theatre, 512 Eaton St. It’s an evening of brand new, all-original short plays penned by local playwrights. An ensemble cast including Vanessa McCaffrey, John Reynolds, Tony Konrath, Rebecca Gleason and Maloff, Shanley and Pipkin will present the plays in a unique script-in-hand format. It’s a fastpaced evening of some very funny and powerful pieces.

Tickets for all Summer Stage events are available at www.redbarntheatre.com/tickets, or by calling 305-296-9911 or 302-540-6102. ¦

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *