Welcome to Season 19: Crossroads!
Vermont Stage Company’s 2012-2013 Season is composed of some of the best new plays to have premiered in the American Theatre recently. In fact, all of the plays you will see this season have been in existence for less than 5 years and have already achieved national acclaim.
Boom by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, the oldest of the plays this season, had its world premiere in 2008 and became the most produced new play in the country by 2009. Perhaps it is due to the building discussion among historians, scientists, and doomsday extremists about the impending “end” to the Mayan Calendar on December 21, 2012 and its possible effects. After all, Boom is a zany existential comedy about our obsession with the beginning and end of the world. Despite the play's lighthearted approach to this worst case scenario, it also discusses deeper issues about our species’ impact on climate change and some of the public’s resistance to the correlation.
Time Stands Still by Pulitzer Prize-winner Donald Margulies premiered in 2010 with a Broadway production that went on to be nominated for a Tony for Best Play. The play centers on the relationship between a war photographer, just after she suffers an injury in Iraq, and her reporter partner and ultimately brings to bear the effects wartime can have on our civilian journalists and the risks they take every day to do their jobs. In the wake of the recent deaths of international correspondents, like Marie Colvin and Anthony Shadid, the themes that resonate through Time Stands Still are both haunting and timely.
4000 Miles by Amy Herzog is the newest play in our season, having just completed its world premiere production Off Broadway at The Lincoln Center to critical acclaim. The play tells the story of a young man who decides to hide out at his grandmother's house after a sudden tragedy. WIth humor and grace, the play lightly touches on the issue of mortality while celebrating the joys we find in life through our relationships with our loved ones. In May 2012, it won an Obie for Best New American Play. Our production at Vermont Stage will be the 1st nationally after its world premiere.
Good People by David Lindsay-Abaire (who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for his play Rabbit Hole) premiered on Broadway in 2011 and was also nominated for a Tony for Best Play. This darkly funny drama takes place in South Boston, where the writer grew up, and centers on Margie a “southie” resident who struggles to make ends meet. When she realizes her former high school sweetheart is now a doctor she seeks out his help, only to be met with discomfort and fear. Good People is a riveting play about class, stereotyping, and the choices we make that decide our fate.
Also playing at Vermont Stage this season:
Winter Tales is back again in its 8th incarnation with brand new stories and songs, hosted by former Artistic Director Mark Nash and celebrated local folk singer Patti Casey. This Vermont Stage annual holiday tradition is a great way to warm up a cold December night.
The 2nd Annual Theatre Bake Off is coming June 2013 and will feature a brand new play with 3 directors and 3 casts to explore the varying ways a play can be brought to life for an audience. Each show will be followed by a Q&A with the audience and the directors about the artistic process. Don’t miss this fascinating and fun new program!
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