Tuesday, February 19, 2013

2013-14 Round House Season Announced


From our friends at Round House Theatre...

Round House Theatre today announced its first full season under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Ryan Rilette. In 2013/14, Round House will produce two modern classics, two Broadway comedies, an Off-Broadway comedy, and an Off-Broadway musical on its mainstage in Bethesda.

“This season reflects a new artistic vision that we hope will excite current patrons and new theatergoers,” says Rilette. “In Bethesda, we will be producing revivals of modern classics and area premieres of celebrated new plays and musicals. We’re also presenting a great slate of new plays by some of the area’s best theatre companies through our ‘In Residence’ program in Silver Spring.”

Round House has also simplified its pricing structure, lowering the cost of many seats in Bethesda. In addition to its existing subscription and FlexPass programs, Round House has added the new House Pass. With a House Pass, a patron can see all of the Round House’s productions in Bethesda – as well as “In Residence” performances in Silver Spring by Forum Theatre, dog & pony dc, and Happenstance Theater  – as many times as they wish. Each House Pass is good for one person and is valid from August 1, 2013 thru July 31, 2014.

In Bethesda, Round House will also launch its new “In Conversation” series, bringing prominent journalists and leading theater artists together for lively discussions.

THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE
By Martin McDonagh
Directed by Jeremy Skidmore
August 21 – September 15, 2013
Round House Theatre Bethesda

Extraordinary…deeply affecting…you don’t know whether to laugh, cry or gasp with horror” – Daily Telegraph

Maureen, a lonely spinster in her forties, lives with her diabolically manipulative mother Mag in an isolated cottage in the west of Ireland. Mag whines and bullies to get her way while Maureen resentfully fulfills her mother’s every command. When Maureen is offered a last chance at love, she sees a chance to escape. But Mag has other ideas, setting in motion a chain of deceptions, secrets, and betrayals that are both heartbreaking and hilarious. With savage irony, this Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning tragicomedy by Ireland’s greatest living playwright surprises audiences through to its horrifying conclusion.

THIS
By Melissa James Gibson
Directed by Ryan Rilette
October 9 – November 3, 2013
Round House Theatre Bethesda

Beautifully conceived, confidently executed…the dialogue sparkles” – New York Times

AREA PREMIERE. Jane is a poet-without-a-muse, a single mother trying to reignite her life after she suddenly loses her husband. Her supportive friends try to help but only make things more complicated while a sexy, French Doctor-Without-Borders incites temptation – and perspective. This un-romantic comedy with music is a sharp, superbly crafted portrait of a group of friends as they navigate their way through parenthood, death, and adultery into the choppy waters of middle age. An Off-Broadway hit by Obie-winning playwright Melissa James Gibson, it points out with wit and searing grace the absurdities of modern life.

THE LYONS
By Nicky Silver
Directed by John Vreeke
November 27 – December 22, 2013
Round House Theatre Bethesda

A funny, furious tale with honesty, savagery, humanity and wit” – New York Magazine

AREA PREMIERE. Indomitable matriarch Rita Lyons is at a major crossroads. Her husband is dying, her son is in a dubious relationship, and her daughter is barely holding it together. Tempers flare, words are exchanged, and secrets are revealed. Worst of all, Rita can’t figure out how to redesign her living room. Nicky Silver, that “strange progeny of a coupling between Neil Simon and Edward Albee” (New York Times), brings another of his deliciously dysfunctional families to the stage in the scathingly funny Broadway smash that earned Tony Award and Drama Desk nominations.

SEMINAR
By Theresa Rebeck
Directed by Jerry Whiddon
February 5 – March 2, 2014
Round House Theatre Bethesda

One of Rebeck’s best works. A wonderful new comedy” – Associated Press

AREA PREMIERE. There’s no such thing as an “easy A” in this class! Writing turns into a contact sport in the fast, funny, and smart new comedy by Pulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeck. Four aspiring young novelists sign up for private classes with Leonard, an international literary figure. Under his recklessly brilliant and unorthodox instruction, some thrive and others flounder, alliances are made and broken, sex is used as a weapon, and hearts are unmoored. They came for a class in writing but got a lesson in survival. Laughter abounds in this hit from Broadway’s most-produced female playwright.

TWO TRAINS RUNNING
By August Wilson
April 2 – 27, 2014
Round House Theatre Bethesda

Glorious storytelling…touching and often funny…penetrating” – New York Times

It’s 1969, and change is in the air. But for Memphis, the owner of a rundown diner in a dying Pittsburgh neighborhood, the civil rights movement may just be an impractical dream. Torn between whether to gamble on an urban‐renewal buyout or sell his building to a predatory businessman, he finds himself caught between idealism and brutal reality. Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson’s searing, humorous, and potent portrait of African‐ American life in the ‘60s tells a complex story of the inner lives of ordinary people at a turning point in American history.

ORDINARY DAYS
Music and Lyrics by Adam Gwon
Directed by Matthew Gardiner
May 28 – June 22, 2014
Round House Theatre Bethesda

A must-see…great tunes…fresh, contemporary and brave” – London Magazine

AREA PREMIERE. From one of musical theatre’s most exciting new composers comes this refreshingly honest, funny musical about making real connections in the city that never sleeps. When Deb loses her most precious possession ‑ the notes to her graduate thesis ‑ she unwittingly starts a chain of events that turns the ordinary days of four New Yorkers into something extraordinary as they search for fulfillment, happiness, love, and cabs. Told through a series of intricately connected songs and vignettes, this Off-Broadway hit is a vibrant, original musical about growing up and enjoying the view.

“IN RESIDENCE” at ROUND HOUSE THEATRE SILVER SPRING
During 2013/14, Round House Theatre Silver Spring will host “In Residence” performances by Forum Theatre, dog & pony dc, and Happenstance Theater.

Forum Theatre’s season includes AGNES UNDER THE BIG TOP by Aditi Brennan Kapil (Sept. 5 –28, 2013), MEENA’S DREAM by Anu Yadav (Jan. 8 – 19, 2014), the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of PLUTO by Steve Yockey (Feb. 20 –Mar. 15, 2014), THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT by Stephen Adly Guirgis (May 22–June 14, 2014), and one additional show to be announced.

dog & pony dc will present its productions of A KILLING GAME and BEERTOWN (in repertory, Sept. 30 –Oct. 20, 2013).

Happenstance Theater returns with the 4th Annual All NewCABARET MACABRE (Oct. 24–Nov. 3, 2013) and IMPOSSIBLE! A HAPPENSTANCE CIRCUS (Jan. 30–Feb. 9, 2014).

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
Subscriptions, FlexPasses, and House Passes for Round House’s 2013/14 season are on sale by calling 240.644.1100, online at www.roundhousetheatre.org, or by visiting the box office in Bethesda. Tickets to individual performances go on sale in August.

Round House Theatre Bethesda is located at 4545 East-West Highway, one block from the Bethesda station on Metro’s Red Line.

Round House Theatre Silver Spring is located at 8641 Colesville Road, approximately three blocks from the Silver Spring station on Metro’s Red Line.