The Studio Theatre 2012 - 2013 Season

The Studio Theatre/The Studio Theatre 2ndStage/The Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory/1501 Fourteenth Street, NW WASHINGTON/DC 20005

Telephone 202.232.7267/Box Office 202.332.3300/Fax 202.588.5262/Web studiotheatre.org/Email studio@studiotheatre.org
INCLUDING JOY ZINOMAN, HOLLY TWYFORD, AND DUNCAN MACMILLAN

Joy Zinoman returns to direct Amy Herzog’s thoughtful drama 4000 Miles.

An Iliad,
a bracing adaptation of Homer’s war epic, and Norwegian/American puppet spectacular Baby Universe round out Special Events.

The Studio Theatre is pleased to announce the final productions of the 2012-2013 Season. Rounding out the Subscription Season, Founding Artistic Director Joy Zinoman will return to direct Amy Herzog’s Off Broadway hit 4000 Miles. This production reunites Zinoman with actor Tana Hicken, who last worked together on Studio’s acclaimed production of The Road to Mecca. It also marks Zinoman’s directorial return to The Studio since retiring as its Artistic Director in 2010. "Amy’s play is a wise and nuanced investigation of an unexpected friendship that grows across generations," says Studio Theatre Artistic Director David Muse. "Character-driven, intimate, and exquisitely observed, 4000 Miles calls for the kind of performances that Joy is so skilled at eliciting. It is a pleasure to welcome her and her work back to Studio’s stage."

The Studio Theatre’s 2012-2013 Special Events kick off with An Iliad, adapted from Homer’s poem by actor Denis O’Hare (True Blood, American Horror Story) and renowned theatre director Lisa Peterson. David Muse directs this one-man adaptation of Homer’s timeless investigation of the heroism and horror of war. Studio’s second Special Event is Baby Universe: A Puppet Odyssey. This whimsical and gripping puppet parable is a transnational collaboration between American and Norwegian artists, co-presented by Wakka Wakka Productions (US) and Nordland Visual Theatre (Norway).

Studio also announces some of the artists who will join us for the 2012-2013 Season. They include Studio Theatre co-founder Russell Metheny, who joins Zinoman as the set designer for 4000 Miles, along with their longtime Studio collaborator, costume designer Helen Q. Huang. Actor Holly Twyford (Time Stands Still, The Road to Mecca) will appear in two Studio plays this season—the world premiere of Dirt, by British writer Bryony Lavery (Frozen), and the US premiere of Contractions by Mike Bartlett in 2ndStage. Contractions marks the first DC production for Olivier-Award winning Bartlett, a groundbreaking playwright whose work has been seen in London at the National Theatre, the Royal Court, and many other theatres. Contractions also sees the return of playwright Duncan Macmillan, whose play Lungs inaugurated The Studio Lab. Mr. Macmillan will direct the ink-black office satire.

Artists joining Studio for the first time this season include Christopher McElroen, Co-Founder of the Classical Theatre of Harlem and recipient of American Theatre Wing, Drama Desk, Lortel, and Obie awards, among many others. McElroen directs Oren Jacoby’s adaptation of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man this fall. The show stars former Arena Stage company member

Teagle F. Bougere
in his Studio Theatre debut. Lila Neugebauer, also new to Studio Theatre, directs Annie Baker’s low-key comedy The Aliens. Ms. Neugebauer is Co-Artistic Director of the theatre ensemble The Mad Ones, whose work has won New York Innovative Theatre Awards for Outstanding Production of a Play and Outstanding Ensemble. Nancy Bannon, Princess Grace and Bessie-award winning choreographer and dancer, will join Studio 2ndStage to choreograph Pas de Deux: Plays from New Zealand and Canada.

THE 2012-2013 SUBSCRIPTION SERIES Invisible Man adapted for the stage by Oren Jacoby

based on the novel by Ralph Ellison

directed by Christopher McElroen

starring Teagle F. Bougere

a co-production with Huntington Theatre Company

performances begin September 5, 2012

"A remarkable, must-see dramatic achievement."—Chicago Tribune

A blistering adaptation of Ellison’s 1952 masterpiece. The play follows an anonymous black man as he journeys from the Deep South to a basement in the borderlands of Harlem, from a betrayal at his ivy-covered Negro college to a nightmare job in a paint factory in New York City to the story’s violent climax at a Harlem race riot. Ellison’s hero moves through an America divided by race and class, and grapples with the paradoxes of identity that have rendered him invisible. This savage, hypnotic, and impassioned adaptation of Invisible Man explores bigotry and its effects on the minds of both victims and perpetrators.

The Aliens by Annie Baker

directed by Lila Neugebauer

performances begin November 14, 2012 "A gentle and extraordinarily beautiful new play."—

The New York Times

The dingy back alley of a sleepy Vermont coffeehouse is home to trash bins, weathered patio furniture, and two affable slackers. KJ and Jasper fill their languid days with Bukowski references, low-key jam sessions, and ’shroom-spiked tea. When smart but awkward teen Evan, a new employee, attempts to evict them from their makeshift perch, KJ and Jasper recruit him as their unlikely summer protégée. From the critically acclaimed writer of Circle Mirror Transformation, this artful and indelible drama is a subtle ode to the truth and compassion hidden in unexpected people and places.

The Motherfucker with the Hat by Stephen Adly Guirgis

directed by Serge Seiden

performances begin January 30, 2013 "One of the best new plays to come to Broadway in ages."—

Wall Street Journal

Jackie, out on parole and newly sober, is determined to start anew with his childhood sweetheart Veronica, but her unrelenting coke addiction, his slick-talking AA sponsor, and the discovery of another man’s hat in his living room all threaten to derail Jackie’s tenuous progress. With profane passion and genuine vulnerability, Jackie and Veronica untangle their decades of co-dependence as they wrestle with the painful limitations of trust, desire, and rehabilitation. A smash hit on Broadway, Stephen Adly Guirgis’ rapid-fire black comedy is an intoxicating and cheerfully vulgar look at the complicated  fom love and other addictions. 4000 Miles
by Amy Herzog

directed by Joy Zinoman

starring Tana Hicken

performances begin March 20, 2013
"A funny, moving, altogether wonderful drama." —

The New York Times

Twenty-one-year-old neo-hippie Leo, still reeling from the shocking death of his best friend during a cross-country bike trek, seeks refuge in the Greenwich Village apartment of his 91-year-old leftist grandmother Vera. As an overnight couch-surf turns into an extended stay, two generations unearth the surprising commonality between the aimlessness of youth and the isolation of old age. From one of America’s fast-rising playwrights, this gentle, well-observed drama explores the funny, frustrating, and ultimately life-changing relationship between a grandson who can’t face his life and a grandmother who is starting to forget hers. Starring Tana Hicken (The Road to Mecca, The History Boys).

The Real Thing
by Tom Stoppard

directed by David Muse

performances begin May 22, 2013
"You couldn’t ask for a more deeply felt, or more deeply affecting, drama about love than this—

The Real Thing is indeed the genuine article—a play of strength, grace, melancholy, and wit."—The Daily Telegraph

Henry is a celebrated playwright, his wife is an actress, and his latest play is a Coward-esque take on relationships and adultery. But as the intricate web of off-stage infidelities unfolds, relationships prove much more demanding than a droll retort. A distinguished play about the complexities of commitment, the power of great writing, and the mysterious ways of love from one of the world’s most celebrated playwrights.
THE 2012-13 STUDIO LAB
Dirt
by Bryony Lavery

directed by David Muse

starring Holly Twyford

performances begin October 17, 2012

World Premiere
Harriet is about to die. Ellie is her waitress. Matt will eventually sleep with them both. Mesmerizing, stylish, and unnervingly funny, this world premiere from the author of

Frozen explores the politics of dirt and the ways that modern life is suffocating us emotionally and physically.

THE 2012-2013 SPECIAL EVENTS
An Iliad
by Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson

based on Homer’s Iliad, translated by Robert Fagles

directed by David Muse

performances begin December 19, 2012
An Iliad

is pure theater: shocking, glorious, primal, and deeply satisfying." —Time Out NY

First sung around a campfire 2,800 years ago, The Iliad remains a soaring ode about humanity’s seemingly timeless attraction to violence and destruction. In this theatrical telling, a storyteller grapples with the mythology, brutality, and humanity of Homer’s epic poem. An intimate and immediate look at rage, grief, and the heroism and horror of a seemingly endless war.
Baby Universe: A Puppet Odyssey
written and directed by Kirjan Waage and Gwendolyn Warnock

presented by Wakka Wakka Productions and Nordland Visual Theatre

performances begin June 26, 2013 "Funny and poignant... magical and refreshing"—

The New York Times (Critics’ Pick)

Having ruined their current planet, Earth’s last inhabitants pin their hopes on a newborn universe, capable of saving us all. This captivating fable—inspired by real-life scientific events and theory—features 30 puppets, animation, a space-age score, and an irresistible robot based on Stephen Hawking. THE 2012-13 STUDIO 2NDSTAGE

25th Anniversary Season
Contractions
by Mike Bartlett

directed by Duncan Macmillan

starring Holly Twyford

performances begin January 2, 2013

US Premiere
Ferociously funny...and grimly plausible." —

The Telegraph

Emma’s manager is concerned that she is in breach of contract. In a series of cordial but increasingly tense conversations, the two dissect the differences between "sexual" and "romantic," negotiate the length of Emma’s interoffice relationship, and face the consequences of shrinking privacy and binding contracts. An ink-black satire from one of Britan’s most acclaimed and provocative writers. Pas de Deux: Plays from New Zealand and Canada
choreography by Nancy Bannon

performances begin April 24, 2013 Skin Tight
by Gary Henderson

directed by Johanna Gruenhut Skin Tight is a visceral, heartbreakingly intense mix of sensual, physical grace and Henderson’s lyrical script that leaves things emotionally exposed down to the bare bones."—The List

A husband and wife relive the torrid fervor of their marriage in this physically intense, erotically charged duet fom one of New Zealand’s premier playwrights. 2-2 Tango
by Daniel MacIvor

directed by Eric Ruffin  A comic and insightful foxtrot based on the tricky steps in adult relationships." —

The Washington Post

Witty and kinetic, this sweet and stylish play explores the universal obstacle course of love, from pickup to hookup to boredom, breakup, or bliss. A revival of one of 2ndStage’s first hits from one of Canada’s most well-known and innovative play rights.Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show  40 
Anniversary Production

book, music, and lyrics by Richard O’Brien

directed by Keith Alan Baker and Alan Paul

music direction by Christopher Youstra

set design by Giorgos Tsappas

performances begin July 10, 2013

"Like Halloween on steroids."—San Diego Reader

Celebrate Studio 2ndStage’s 25th anniversary with this original horror comedy musical! Two naïve lovers, Brad and Janet, seek shelter from a thunderstorm in an old castle and find themselves thrust into the laboratory of pansexual, cross-dressing mad scientist Dr. Frank ‘N’ Furter and his cadre of madcap minions. Stripped of their inhibitions—and their clothes—Brad and Janet embark on a wild, unforgettable odyssey of carnal pleasures and self-discovery. Reality, fiction, and camp collide in this mashup of comics, rock and roll, and late-night horror flicks.

The Studio Theatre’s 2012-2013 Season is generously underwritten by Robert and

Arlene Kogod  THE STUDIO THEATRE INFORMATION:

The Studio Theatre is Washington’s premiere venue for contemporary theatre, "where local audiences will find today’s edgiest playwrights" (Variety). Founded in 1978 by Joy Zinoman, the theatre is in its second season under the leadership of Artistic Director David Muse. Muse is joined by Keith Alan Baker, Managing Director/Artistic Director, 2ndStage; Serge Seiden, Associate Producing Artistic Director; and Morey B. Epstein, Executive Director of Institutional Development.

One of the most respected midsized theatres in the country, The Studio Theatre produces the work of today’s greatest writers, augmented by occasional productions of modern classics, performed by acclaimed actors in intimate spaces. Studio’s programming, while purposefully eclectic, emphasizes plays of sophistication and style with true literary and theatrical merit. The five plays of The Studio Theatre Season form the core of its work, and are complemented by its Special Events, which bring unique performances and one-of-a-kind events to Washington DC; the rawer, frequently irreverent productions of The Studio 2ndStage; and the Studio Lab, in its inaugural season, which is dedicated to stripped-down productions of invigorating new work.

Housed in a landmark complex that anchors the 14th Street Arts District, each of Studio’s four theatres seats fewer than 225 patrons, giving Studio productions their signature intimacy. Throughout the Theatre’s 34-year history, the quality of its work has been recognized by sustained community support as well as with 291 nominations and 57 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in professional theatre. In addition, The Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory has trained over 10,000 students, many of whom have gone on to acclaimed careers across the country. A premiere cultural organization in Washington DC, The Studio Theatre serves more than 75,000 people annually and is proud to make a vital contribution to its neighborhood and city.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Accessibility:
All performances are fully accessible to accommodate patrons with special needs. FM listening assistive system available. Call for schedule of sign-interpreted performances. Accessible seats available by reservation. Call the Box Office at 202-332-3300 or V/TTY 202-667-8436.

Location:
1501 14th Street, NW (Northeast corner of 14th and P Streets).

Parking:
Please call the Box Office for parking information.

Metro Stops:
Red Line: Dupont Circle, Orange/Blue Lines: McPherson Square, and Green/Yellow Line: U Street/Cardozo.

Contact Information:

Tickets
: 202-332-3300 V/TTY: 202-667-8436 Fax: 202-332-1187

Administration
: 202-232-7267 Admin. Fax: 202-588-5262

Website
: www.studiotheatre.org E-mail: studio@studiotheatre.org

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