by Ron Hutchinson

Nov. 25, 26, 27, Dec. 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11 2011
Tickets:  $16 Online / $20 at Door / Thurs 2-for-$25

This mile-a-minute go-round revolves around the complete script rewriting of Gone With the Wind after producer David O. Selznick, dissatisfied with the progress of his intended masterpiece, stops production flat and entrusts the new script to Ben Hecht ... who has never read the book! What follows is inspired farce, rip-roaring, brimming with witty dialogue – both a satire of and a tribute to movie-making in the old Hollywood. Based upon a real-life happening.

Directed by Tracie Lango

by Arthur Miller

Directed by Catherine Pappas
Feb. 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19 2012

Tickets: $16 Online / $20 at Door / Thurs 2-for-$25



Family and neighbors gather in the backyard of Joe Keller’s home on a lovely summer Sunday in 1946. Fellowship and good cheer abound, while little is said either about Joe’s son, who went missing in the war, or about Joe being implicated in the shipment of defective materials to the military during the war. As the story progresses secrets are revealed and illusions are dashed, in this powerful commentary on honor, truth, and moral responsibility. A classic by one of the greatest American playwrights, and winner of the Tony award for Best Play.

by James Yaffe
(adapted from the novella The Breakdown by Friedrich Duerrenmatt)

Directed by Yaga Brady

Apr. 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29 2012
Tickets: $16 Online / $20 at Door / Thurs 2-for-$25

Here's what Hugh Hunter at Chestnut Hill Local has to say:
       "... a suspense-thriller you will never forget ... grips you at the story-telling level ... shot through with comic irony ... director Brady keeps a tight focus ... a memorable tour de force ..."  
 
Kaitlyn Foti at Chestnut Hill Patch writes:
    "'The Deadly Game' [is] a winner at Stagecrafters ... entertaining and fulfilling."

Those whose dramatic taste runs to the delightfully macabre may wish to put on their theatrical to-do list the psychological thriller The Deadly Game, adapted by James Yaffe from a novella by Swiss author Friedrich Duerrenmatt, which is to open at The Stagecrafters on Friday, April 13. The action unfolds as a traveling American businessman, having run his car into a snowdrift during a fierce Alpine blizzard, gratefully accepts warm hospitality after trudging his way to a chalet up the road perched over a deep precipice. Little does he suspect that the initial encounter with his host, a genial, well-mannered older gentleman, will lead to a chain of events that will literally put his life on the line. The tension builds slowly and inexorably, as the battle of wits and wiles effectively blends horror and black humor with probing of deeper issues of human moral frailty.

Friedrich Duerrenmatt (1921-1990) was a master of macabre and darkly comic story-telling, where weighty moral questions always lurked just beneath the surface. Author of The Visit, which was also produced at The Stagecrafters (2007), Duerrenmatt has to his credit dozens of plays and novels, most often tales dealing with questions of crime, guilt, and justice. His story, Die Panne (The Breakdown, 1956), cleverly adapted by James Yaffe as The Deadly Game, was ideal material for a stage thriller which is probing, suspenseful, and weirdly funny. First produced on Broadway in 1960, The Deadly Game has seen numerous productions in theaters in this country and abroad.

Special NOTE: A “Meet the Cast and Director” Q & A session will be held following the performances on Thursday, Apr. 19 and Sunday, Apr. 22. All attendees at those performances are welcome to stay.

by Jean Baptiste Poquelin de Moliere

(translated into English verse by Richard Wilbur)

Directed by Rhonda Goldstein
Jun. 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29, 30, Jul. 1 2012
Tickets: $16 Online / $20 at Door / Thurs 2-for-$25

Michael Schwartz at STAGE Magazine online:
"...director Rhonda Goldstein has mounted a production that is funny. Screamingly funny. ...TARTUFFE has been a comic gift to audiences for over 340 years, and this production re-gifts Moliere in high style."

Hugh Hunter at Chestnut Hill Local writes:
"... an enduring masterpiece of comedy. ... funny and thoughtful ... eye-catching costumes ... If you already know the play, the elegant and respectful Stagecrafters production will only make you like it more."

Kaitlyn Foti at Chestnut Hill Patch says:
"... a 17th century family [is put] through the wringer, with laugh-out-loud results. ... as truth wins out in the end of the play, so does the charm of the characters, and the actors playing them. ... 'Tartuffe' is worth the effort."

Penned in 1664 by French actor and playwright Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (called ‘Molière’), Tartuffe has become one of the most frequently performed stage plays of all time. It is the immortal tale of a crafty hypocrite who feigns honesty, human compassion, and piety, but in reality takes advantage of his naïve and gullible benefactor in a calculating and ruthless manner. This delicious, sharp-witted, and insightful comedy/farce has been delighting audiences for more than three centuries!

Molière, born in 1622, was definitely influenced by the farcical style of the Italian commedia dell’arte, in the usage of social satire and lots of broad physicality. However, his plays represent a far more accomplished structure, and characters of infinitely greater depth and variety, than their Italian predecessors. He gained great popularity already during his lifetime, enthralling Parisian audiences with such ‘hits’ as The School for Wives, The Miser, The Doctor in Spite of Himself, and The Bourgeois Gentleman. The first performances of Tartuffe, though well received by attendees, met with controversy due to its mockery of religiosity; and King Louis XIV was compelled to ban further performances following the strong objections of the Roman Catholic Church. Molière wrote a second version of the play in 1667, The Hypocrite (L’Imposteur), which still failed to appease his detractors. But, as scandal makes for good box office, all of Paris could hardly wait to see his play; and in 1669, upon approval of a reading by the papal legate, the King finally allowed it to be published and performed.

Tartuffe is written in dashingly rhymed couplets, perfectly rendered into English verse by Richard Wilbur.

Special NOTE: A “Meet the Cast and Director” Q & A session will be held immediately following the performance on Friday, June 22. All attendees at that performance are welcome to stay.