A Sneak Peek at A.C.T. in 2018

-
By A.C.T. Publications Staff

Happy New Year! Because of patrons and theater fans like you, 2017 was a shining year for A.C.T. This year we celebrated our 50th anniversary, staged the world premiere of the hit new play A Thousand Splendid Suns, welcomed audiences to our second annual New Strands Festival, and kicked off the new season on a high note with Tony Award–nominated actor John Douglas Thompson as the prince of Denmark. As we look ahead to 2018, here is a sneak peek at A.C.T.’s upcoming shows that are sure to dazzle in the new year.

Show artwork for A.C.T.'s 2018 production of The Birthday Party.
The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter at The Geary Theater, directed by Carey Perloff (January 10–February 4, 2018)

A star-studded cast takes the Geary stage as A.C.T. returns to the mysterious world of Harold Pinter in our first staging of his groundbreaking play The Birthday Party. Tony Award winner Judith Ivey joins Stratford Festival star Scott Wentworth and A.C.T. favorites Marco Barricelli and Firdous Bamji for this darkly comic British drama.

Vietgone by Qui Nguyen at The Strand Theater, directed by Jaime Castañeda (February 21–April 22, 2018)

Bold, vivid, and utterly fresh, Vietgone is an irreverent new comedy from one of American theater’s most innovative and lauded new playwrights. In this contemporary twist on the classic story of boy meets girl, three young Vietnamese immigrants leave their war-torn country for an eye-opening road trip across the bewildering and foreign landscape of 1970s America.

Heisenberg by Simon Stephens at The Geary Theater, directed by Hal Brooks (March 14­–April 8, 2018)

In a bustling London train station, free-spirited American Georgie unexpectedly kisses mid-70s British butcher Alex, and sets his world reeling. When she turns up in his shop a few days later, he is suspicious. Is she really attracted to him, or is there a longer con on the cards? As Alex is drawn into Georgie’s anarchic world, his conventional life becomes chaotic, uncertain, and undeniably richer.

Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2, & 3) by Suzan-Lori Parks at The Geary Theater, directed by Liz Diamond (April 25–May 20, 2018)

From Pulitzer Prize–winner Suzan-Lori Parks (Topdog/Underdog) comes an explosively powerful and lyrical new play set against the backdrop of the American Civil War. In this epic take on the Odyssey, Southern slave Hero faces a terrible choice: to earn his freedom by fighting for the Confederacy alongside his master, or to stay home with the woman and family he loves but remain a slave.

A.C.T.'s Geary Theater in 2017. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
A Walk on the Moon by Paul Scott Goodman and Pamela Gray at The Geary Theater, directed by Sheryl Kaller (June 5–July 1, 2018)

Based on the award-winning film, this stunning new musical unites the landscape of Borscht Belt comedy, the radical spirit of sixties revolution, and the electricity of two newfound romances to create a soaring and original rock and roll score.
To learn more about the 2017–18 season, click here. Information about season subscription packages can be found here.

Popular posts from this blog

“To Be or Not to Be”: The Iconic Speech’s Origins, Interpretations, and Impact

-
Image
By A.C.T. Publications Staff The opening line of Hamlet ’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy is theater’s most iconic, most referenced quote. What’s less known is the famous speech’s history, with Hamlet ’s earliest publications offering varying versions of its language. Also questioned is its meaning—is Hamlet contemplating suicide or is he weighing the consequences of murder? Though definitive answers are unlikely to arise, the questions “To be or not to be” asks have kept audiences, scholars, and actors engaged for centuries. Hamlet ’ s "To be or not to be" speech as it appears in the three original editions of the play. Photo by Georgelazenby. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons. The first edition, or First Quarto (Q1), of Hamlet was published in 1603. Because the text is much shorter than later editions and its language is less poetic, it is nicknamed the “Bad Quarto” by scholars. “To be or not to be” in Q1 reads as: To be, or not to be—ay, there’s the point. To die, ...
Read more

The American Sound: The Evolution of Jazz

-
Image
By Cecilia Padilla There is nothing so uniquely American as jazz music. In its simplest form, jazz embodies the essence of the American people: bold and inventive. The improvisation of the jazz ensemble can even be seen as a metaphor for the American democratic ideal: musicians playing solos have the liberty to express themselves as long as they adhere to the overall structure of the tune—individual freedom but with responsibility to the group. The evolution of jazz music also carries with it the social development of our nation from slavery to the swinging songs of World War II. Musically, jazz contributed immensely to the way contemporary musicians approach instrumentation, composition, and vocal arrangements. It is difficult to find a popular tune today that does not derive from such jazz icons as Joe Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Thelonious Monk. Jazz is the great equalizer; for more than a hundred years, it has been the common ground between blacks and whites, me...
Read more

A Hell of a Businessman: A Biography of Joe Glaser

-
By Simon Hodgson Born in 1897, Joe Glaser was the son of a successful Russian Jewish physician in Chicago. He originally intended to follow a similar career and entered medical school, but after passing out in the operating room, he realized he wasn’t cut out to be a doctor. He started off in business selling used cars, but found better luck managing prizefighters. In his biography of Al Capone, Laurence Bergreen notes, “Glaser’s power to fix fights earned him a reputation as a sage of boxing, especially among reporters.” With advanced word as to which fights were fixed, Glaser could predict the results—and even the number of rounds—of many bouts in Chicago. His connections with organized crime continued in his next career change, when he began running nightclubs and whorehouses in the South Side for the Chicago Outfit, the powerful underworld gang led by Capone. Glaser’s tendency toward illegal action nearly ended his career. In 1928, he was sentenced to ten years in prison for ...
Read more