Season tickets are available for 2015-16 William Woods University theatre productions, including the first offering, “The 39 Steps,” a fast-paced whodunit.
Other plays include a drama, “#YesAllWomen/#NotAllMen,” and two comedies, “Silence,” and the musical, “Cheaper by the Dozen.”
“The season is entertaining, thought-provoking, challenging and, of course, lots of fun,” Joe Potter, assistant professor and artistic director of theatre, said. “All in all, something for everyone and exactly what live-theatre is all about.”
“The 39 Steps,” by Patrick Barlow and John Buchan, will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 24-26 with a matinee at 2 p.m. Sept. 26 in Dulany Auditorium.
Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have “The 39 Steps,” a fast-paced whodunit for anyone who loves the magic of theatre.
This award-winning treat is packed with nonstop laughs, where a cast of four plays more than 150 zany characters. It includes an onstage plane crash, handcuffs, missing fingers and some good old-fashioned romance!
In “The 39 Steps,” a man with a boring life meets a woman who says she’s a spy. When he takes her home, she is murdered. Soon, a mysterious organization called “The 39 Steps” is hot on the man’s trail in a nationwide manhunt that climaxes in a death-defying finale. A riotous blend of virtuoso performances and inventive stagecraft, “The 39 Steps” amounts to a remarkable evening.
“The 39 Steps is a funny, cleverly written, complex in its simplicity, fast-paced script,” Potter said. “It offers the four actors, who will play all of the roles, a good challenge for their comic timing, improvisation skills and character development; truly an actor’s tour de force. It combines all the best elements of story-telling and live theatre into a nicely wrapped comic package for the audience.”
Potter will direct the production and design the lighting and sets. Jane Friedman will design the costumes.
The Times reviewed “The 39 Steps” comedy as “A dizzy theatrical game with wit and versatility.”
A devised theatre drama, “#YesAllWomen/#NotAllMen” will be the second main stage production. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3-5, with a matinee at 2 p.m. Dec. 5 in Dulany Auditorium.
Though it is not a “new” concept, devised theatre is the latest big thing in college theatre. Devised theatre starts with an idea, an image, a song, etc., around which a group researches, creates, rehearses and performs a piece.
The third play, “Silence” by Moira Buffini, will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25-27 with a matinee at 2 p.m. Feb. 27 in Cutlip Auditorium. In “Silence,” Shakespeare meets Monty Python’s blithering knights at the end of the first millennium. Princess Ymma of Normandy is forced by England’s King Ethelred to marry a young Viking, Lord Silence of Cumbria.
The season concludes with a comedy, “Cheaper by the Dozen” by Christopher Sergel at 7:30 p.m. April 21-23 with a matinee at 2 p.m. April 23 in Cutlip Auditorium.
“Cheaper by the Dozen wraps our season up with a wonderful story about family, love, values and the importance of understanding, order and discipline in our lives,” Potter said. “We will be looking to the community to cast some of the children’s roles.”
Season tickets are now on sale and available through the final performance of “The 39 Steps” Sept. 26. Season tickets offer several benefits: a 20 percent savings on regular ticket prices, 33 percent saving on family ticket prices, preferred seating and no standing in long lines at the box office.
Season ticket prices are $30 for adults, $20 for senior citizens ages 62 and above and $15 for children ages 6-12. For more information, or to order season tickets, call the William Woods University Theatre Department at 573-592-4281.