Theatre News Wire

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company's 2010/11 season celebrates James Bohnen's 14-year journey with the company and final as artistic director. He bookends the season's directing duties, starting Sept. 22 - Oct. 31, 2010 with the season opener Night and Day by one of the company's signature playwrights, Tom Stoppard, and concluding March 30 - May 8, 2011 with Edward Albee's 2002 Tony Award-winning Best Play, The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?  Remy Bumppo makes the holidays merry Nov. 24, 2010 through Jan. 9, 2011 with possibly the funniest play in the English language, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by Artistic Associate Shawn Douglass. All shows will be presented at the Greenhouse Theater Center at 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago.  Subscriptions range from $68 for previews to $165 for opening night and are on sale now at www.remybumppo.org or by calling the Greenhouse Theater box office at 773-404-7336.  Single tickets go on sale Aug. 1, 2010.

Artistic Director Bohnen explains the season theme Secret Lives, Public Lies: "These plays ask the questions 'What are you willing to risk?' 'How far will you go to find true love?' and 'Where is your limit of forgiveness?'  They delve into the tension between the secrets we all try to keep and the lies we choose, or feel forced, to tell.  Featuring roles for all of Remy Bumppo's artistic associates, the season promises to deliver the kind of experiences that theater was made for."

NIGHT AND DAY
By Tom Stoppard
Directed by James Bohnen
Sept. 22 - Oct. 31, 2010
Greenhouse Theater Center, Downstairs Mainstage

Set in a fictional African country that feels like a 1950s Hollywood romantic adventure, competing British war correspondents descend on the household of an expatriate and his wife, attempting to crack open a story on the country's erupting civil war.  Stoppard, with his usual comic seriousness, both attacks the triviality of the free press for exposing the personal lives of public figures to sell papers, and elevates its importance in uncovering political truth. The cast features Artistic Associates Greg Matthew Anderson, David Darlow, Shawn Douglass and Linda Gillum and guest artists John Babbo, Jeff Cummings, Ernest Perry, Jr., and Michael Pogue.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
By Oscar Wilde
Directed by Shawn Douglass
Nov. 24, 2010 - Jan. 9, 2011
Greenhouse Theater Center, Upstairs Mainstage

Charming bachelors Jack and Algernon lead double lives in order to pursue two proper young ladies, while avoiding obligatory lunches with terrifying aunts. When they are caught in their public lies, the result is one of the funniest plays ever written. Wilde dishes up delicious criticisms of identity, manners and the customs of courtship, delivered with his outrageous wit and the sting laughter.  The cast features Artistic Associates Greg Matthew Anderson, Annabel Armour, David Darlow (as Lady Bracknell), and Linda Gillum and guest artists Kelsey Brennan, Peter Cieply, Paul Hurley, and Bill Watt.

THE GOAT OR, WHO IS SYLVIA?
By Edward Albee
Directed by James Bohnen
March 30 - May 8, 2011
Greenhouse Theater Center, Downstairs Mainstage

Martin is an architect at the pinnacle of his career, with a great marriage and happy family.  What could go wrong?  This winner of the 2002 Tony Award for Best Play packs the wit of Noel Coward, the tragedy of Ibsen, and the raw power of Mamet into one intense theatrical ride.  The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? asks us to stare into the mirror and decide where the limit of our acceptance lies for a loved one who has pushed past every boundary. The cast features Artistic Associates Annabel Armour and Nick Sandys, and guest artists Will Allan and Michael Joseph Mitchell.