Theatre Lab at FAU’s 2019-20 Season
Boca Raton, FL – Theatre Lab, the professional resident company of Florida Atlantic University, has announced a three-play MainStage Series, including a regional and a world premiere and a Heckscher Theatre for Families production, its acclaimed Playwright’s Forum and Masterclass series, and the annual Theatre Lab New Play Festival. All of the events will take place in the Heckscher Stage theater space in Parliament Hall, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton campus. Season subscriptions are available now at 561-297-6124 or fauevents.com and individual tickets will be on sale on August 1.
“Theatre Lab’s audience has continued to grow and as we move into our fourth season of full productions, our expanded programming reflects our growth,” said Matt Stabile, Theatre Lab’s artistic director. MainStage productions will now open on Saturday nights and run for four full weeks. The MainStage season will begin with a co-World Premiere of “Everything is Super Great,” by Stephen Brown. The Theatre Lab production will share the “world premiere” status and run concurrently with a production by New Light Theater Project and Stable Cable Lab Co. at the off-Broadway theater 59e59.
While casting for The Glass Piano is still being finalized, the casts for the other two productions are set. “’Everything is Super Great’ by Stephen Brown was a huge hit at our 2019 New Play Festival and we are incredibly excited to have the same cast return for the full production,” Stabile continued. Stabile will direct the co-World Premiere production and local actors Jeni Hacker and Timothy Mark Davis, will share the stage with two FAU Theatre MFA candidates Christian Mouisset and Rachel Bryant. Stabile adds, “This sort of synergy with the Department of Theatre and Dance was always what we envisioned when we began Theatre Lab. We want to be able to offer students a bridge to the professional world. I absolutely loved working with this cast on the reading and can’t wait to bring this hilarious comedy to life!”
THE 2019-20 THEATRE LAB MAINSTAGE SEASON
+ ‘Everything is Super Great’ by Stephen Brown
A Co-World Premiere in conjunction with New Light Theater Project and Stable Cable Lab Co.
From Saturday, Nov. 30 to Sunday, Dec. 22
A typical day in the life of 19-year-old Tommy involves triple shot lattes, yearning after his assistant manager at Starbucks, and arson at Applebee’s. Such distractions are therapeutic when your older brother has been missing for months. But when a well-meaning, if somewhat misguided, therapist shows up on his doorstep, Tommy must finally face his loss.
Preview: Friday, Nov. 29, 7:30 p.m.
Opening: Saturday, Nov. 30, 7:30 p.m.
Special closing week matinee: Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 3 p.m.
Runs Thursday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m.
+ “The Glass Piano” by Alix Sobler
A U.S. Premiere
Feb. 8 to March 1, 2020
Alexandra thought her life would never change. Living in the castle with her father, the failed poet, her maid, the wise Galstina, and catching glimpses of her mother as she runs from the stables to the rose bushes, trying not get caught by the palace guard. And of course, there was the grand piano made of glass that she swallowed as a child, sitting inside her at all times. But then Lucien arrives and suddenly, anything seems possible.
+ ‘To Fall in Love’ by Jennifer Lane
A Southeastern Premiere
Saturday, March 14 to Friday, April 5, 2020
Scientists claim that anyone can fall in love, simply by asking and honestly answering a specific series of 36 personal questions followed by four minutes of uninterrupted eye contact. But what if the goal is to fall in love again? Can this exercise help Wyatt and Merryn save a marriage, splintered by tragedy?
Preview: Thursday, March 12 and Friday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Opening: Saturday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Runs Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m.
ADDITIONAL EVENTS:
+ ‘When She Had Wings’ by Suzan Zeder
+ A Heckscher Theatre for Families production
Saturday, Sept. 7 through Saturday, Sept. 29
A story told in sound, movement and words about 9-year-old B … just plain B, like the letter, like the grade, who is about to turn 10 and is not happy about that! B knows, really knows, that before she could walk, she could fly. She is desperate to remember how before the dreaded birthday comes. In a summer thunderstorm, B’s treehouse is hit by lightning, and a mysterious stranger appears. She cannot speak except in strange squawks, single words and occasionally the letters “KHAQQ” … the call letters of the plane Amelia Earhart was flying when she disappeared and was never found. Is this creature a bird, an older woman escaped from a senior care unit or could she possibly be Amelia herself? Together they must help each other remember how to fly … literally and metaphorically.
Performances open to the public on:
Saturdays at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Sundays at 3 p.m.
$20 for adults. Children under 18 free with adult admission.
Free Creative Writing Workshops: Saturdays and Sundays at 1 p.m.
+ Playwright’s Forum and MasterClass Series
Sunday, Oct. 13 through Sunday, Oct. 27
Sundays – Masterclass at 12:30 p.m.; Readings at 3 p.m.
During October, Theatre Lab will once again welcome some of the nation’s most notable playwrights to share readings of their newest plays followed by a discussion about the work, their process, and the importance new-play development. This year’s playwrights include Christopher Demos-Brown, fresh off his successful run of “American Son” on Broadway, Jaqueline Goldfinger, and a new play from Theatre Lab’s Fair Play Initiative – a commission and development program for LGBT playwrights made possible by Our Fund.
+ New Play Festival
Friday, Jan. 3 to Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020
Theatre Lab’s annual New Play Festivals continues their tradition of providing opportunities for emerging and established playwrights to showcase their work. This event is your opportunity to get a sneak-peek at some of the shows that might end up on our stage next season! Each reading is accompanied by a post-show discussion, an opportunity to interact with the playwrights themselves, where they will discuss the process, inspiration, and plans for future development.
Friday, Jan. 3, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 4, noon, 3 and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 5, noon and 3 p.m.
++ For more information about Theatre Lab, visit www.fau.edu/theatrelab.
About Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six-county service region in southeast Florida. FAU’s world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of critical areas that form the basis of its strategic plan: Healthy aging, biotech, coastal and marine issues, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, informatics, lifespan and the environment. These areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU’s existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.
