ThinkTheater: The 2009 Contemporary American Theater Festival
From the Producing Director: Ed Herendeen
Shepherdstown, WV is the place where theater artists come to tell their new stories. Our historic, small town is where the American theater spends the summer. Our 2009 playwrights show us the way to what’s next. Their stories are a reflection of our contemporary society. The theater persists because of new plays. New plays are a pressurized microcosm of a life…our life. Their very essence implies that they touch the human soul. We have assembled five of the best minds, warmest spirits and most savvy writers of the American stage who share our passion for storytelling and live contemporary theater.
Eisa Davis, Steven Dietz, Victor Lodato, Michael Weller and Beau Willimon are five contemporary playwrights who give voice and energy to the American stage. Their work punctures the complacency of popular culture and commercial media. Their stories provide powerful images of the human condition. These five plays acknowledge the communion of the audience with the performers and provide a forum for conversation. Those who love the theater go to be challenged and transported. I am proud to introduce you to our rotating Repertory of FIVE new American plays.
The World Premiere of THE HISTORY OF LIGHT by Eisa Davis is a PASSIONATE fugue between fathers, daughters, lovers, and friends. This is a poetic, theatrical story about a young singer and her journey to embrace and understand her past.
The World Premiere of DEAR SARA JANE by Victor Lodato is a METAPHYSICAL stand-up routine or mad cabaret: featuring a solo performance that examines the psychic disintegration and subsequent transformation of a woman waiting for her husband to return from war.
YANKEE TAVERN by Steven Dietz is a political THRILLER about a young couple caught in a web of conspiracy theories surrounding the 9/11 attacks. In this intense, fierce, funny and dangerous story: what you don’t know can hurt you.
FARRAGUT NORTH by Beau Willimon is a POLITICAL drama that lifts the veil on American politics. This timely drama is a potent reminder that politics is a high-stakes game where one wrong liaison can finish you off.
FIFTY WORDS by Michael Weller is a knockdown-tell all power play about the inextinguishable love and desire that makes 21st century marriage so fascinating. This bruising domestic DRAMA, alternately funny and frightening, is an incisive close-up of modern cohabitation.
Make your plans now to attend the Contemporary American Theater Festival and witness our growing community of theater lovers. Celebrate the power of story, fresh voices, new ideas and new energy that infuse the 2009 Repertory. We have created an extraordinary culture that encourages “deep listening”, artistic collaboration and stimulating conversation. Meet the artists, attend our lectures and performance talk-backs and join me for breakfast on Sunday mornings. Let’s talk theater!
*Read more from Ed Herendeen at TalkTheater: The Producers' Blog
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