A world premiere and seven Midwest premieres – including a play written by Dr. Esperanza Zendejas, the former and controversial Indianapolis Public School superintendent– are prominent on the 2010-11 season at the Phoenix Theatre.
Phoenix Theatre is nestled in Chatham Arch neighborhood.
The lineup, which begins this month with the return of “Pure Prine: The Music of John Prine,” also includes one National New Play Network rolling world premiere, two re-mounted world premieres, and a greatest hits version of the ever-popular holiday variety show.
“There is an art to creating a theater season and after 28 years, we feel confident that our 2010-2011 season of plays is both a reflection of the concerns of our community and a revelation of new trends and topics from the national canvas,” said Bryan Fonseca, the theater’s producing director.
Fonseca said that the new season certainly has a few surprises, including two musicals – Tony-winner “Avenue Q” and the locally written salute to the month of May in Indy, “The Zippers of Zoomerville.”
“It’s a big and colorful season,” Fonseca said. “You may not see all of the plays but each one you do see you will remember vividly.”
The season starts on Thursday, Aug. 19, with “Pure Prine,” the brainchild of Fonseca being brought back by popular demand for a full run of four weeks through mid-September. Next up is a weekend with four performances of “When the Dead Cry,” or “Cuando Los Muertos Lloran,” an original one-woman show by former Indianapolis Public School Superintendent Dr. Esperanza Zendejas. As part of our continued commitment to the Hispanic community, the Phoenix will present two performances in Spanish.
That production will be followed by 2010 Tony-nominee and Pulitzer Prize-finalist “In the Next Room (or the vibrator play)” by acclaimed playwright Sarah Ruhl, which landed on the year’s Top 10 list in Time magazine and The New York Times. “Perhaps more than any other production of the season,” Fonseca said, “this play fits the reputation of the Phoenix to take creative risks through the inventive staging of contemporary plays with smart dialogue and engaging storylines.”
“My Name is Asher Lev,” written by Aaron Posner and adapted from the popular novel by Chaim Potok, which details the life of an art prodigy who grows up in a Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn and grapples with the conflict between the only world he knows and his emerging creative impulses.
A season at the Phoenix would not be complete without the irreverent holiday tradition, this year aptly titled “A Very Phoenix Xmas 5: Regifted.” Of the fifth annual show, Fonseca said, “This year, we’re letting the fans vote on the line-up, which will include greatest hits from the previous shows.”
The first of two world premieres is a co-premiere with Boise Contemporary Theatre titled “Norway” by new playwright Samuel D. Hunter. This play first emerged in a partnership between the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival and the NNPN— called the MFA Playwrights Workshop— directed by Fonseca.
The second is a NNPN rolling world premiere titled “Goldie, Max and Milk” (rights pending) by Karen Hartman, a comedy about the joys and fears of single motherhood in a family that is anything but traditional.
“The Storytelling Ability of a Boy” by Carter W. Lewis tells the story of three people, two young students and their teacher, living on the fringes of their world and struggling to find their way and a place to belong. “People struggling to find their place in the world is certainly a recurring theme in Phoenix productions,” Fonseca said. “The Storytelling Ability of a Boy” is about the world of high school – for students and teachers – and Melissa James Gibson’s “This” is about New Yorkers entering the choppy waters of middle age and trying to find a place in their community of friends.” The Phoenix season will end With A Bang – Pete McElligott’s fast-moving story brought to life as a graphic novel for the stage.
The Phoenix Theatre was founded in 1983 by a group of Indianapolis theater artists who wanted to produce contemporary plays as well as to pay the theater’s artists, a goal that was achieved a few years down the road. As one of only a handful of professional theaters in Indianapolis, the Phoenix continues to present contemporary material that is rarely safe or without controversy.
THE 2010-11 SEASON
– “Pure Prine: The Music of John Prine” – Aug. 19 through Sept. 12 on the Mainstage.
– “When the Dead Cry” or “Cuando Los Muertos Lloran” – Sept. 23-26 in the Frank & Katrina Basile Theatre.
– “In the Next Room” (or “the vibrator play”) – Sept. 30 through Oct. 24 on the Mainstage.
– “My Name is Asher Lev” – Oct. 28 through Nov. 21 in the Frank & Katrina Basile Theatre.
– “A Very Phoenix Xmas 5: Regifted” – Nov. 26 through Dec. 19 on the Mainstage.
– “Norway” – Jan. 6 through 30 in the Frank & Katrina Basile Theatre.
– “Goldie, Max and Milk” (rights pending) – Feb. 3 through 27 on the Mainstage.
– “The Storytelling Ability of a Boy” – March 3 through 27 in the Frank & Katrina Basile Theatre.
– “This” – March 31 through April 24 on the Mainstage.
– “The Zippers of Zoomerville” – April 28 through May 28 in the Frank & Katrina Basile Theatre.
– “Avenue Q” – June 2 through July 10 on the Mainstage.
– “With A Bang” – July 14 through Aug. 14 in the Frank & Katrina Basile Theatre.
For more information about any Phoenix programs or to purchase tickets, call the Phoenix Theatre box office at 635-7529. The theater’s website is www.phoenixtheatre.org.
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