Austin Playhouse Announces 20th Anniversary Season
By: Julie Musbach Jun. 06, 2019
Austin Playhouse announces their 20th Anniversary Season celebrating the human connections at the heart of live theatre.
Artistic Director, Lara Toner Haddock says, "For our 20th season we wanted to really showcase what Austin Playhouse does best while challenging us as a company and a community. So we're bringing back beloved characters Holmes and Watson in a new adventure, but also tackling a huge project like Paula Vogel's Indecent. We have the heartwarming musical She Loves Me and the unflinchingly adult stories explored in Tiny Beautiful Things, and we're closing our season by connecting one of our first hits, Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, to a thematic partner by one of our favorite modern playwrights, Lauren Gunderson."
The season kicks off with Holmes and Watson, by Jeffrey Hatcher. Three years after Holmes dies Watson gets a call that three patients in an asylum claim to be Holmes. Watson embarks on a journey to disprove these claims.
Celebrate the holiday season with the euphoric romantic comedy musical She Loves Me. When two feuding perfume clerks don't know that the anonymous pen pals they are writing to are actual each other.
We will ring in the new year, with Tiny Beautiful Things, Adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos from the book by Cheryl Strayed (WILD). A play about reaching when you're stuck, healing when you're broken, and finding the courage to take on the questions which have no answers.
The season continues with Paula Vogel's Indecent. Dive into the fascinating true story of Sholem Asch's controversial play, The God of Vengeance, and the passionate artists who risked everything to bring it to the stage.
Wrapping up the season we're bringing back one of our favorite productions to celebrate our 20th Anniversary, Tom Stoppard's Arcadia. And, as a 20th Season bonus, we're running Arcadia in repertory with Ada and the Engine by Lauren Gunderson.
Austin Playhouse 20th Anniversary Season
Holmes and Watson
Sept.6-Sept. 29, 2019
It's been three years since Sherlock Holmes went over Reichenbach Falls and was declared dead. When Dr. John Watson receives a cryptic telegram stating that three asylum patients are each claiming to be the late Sherlock Holmes, Watson is compelled to investigate. Could Holmes really be alive after all this time?
She Loves Me
Music by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick
Book by Joe Masteroff
Nov. 29-Dec.22, 2019
A euphoric romantic comedy with a delightful score. Feuding perfume clerks work together begrudgingly by day, and write beautiful love letters to their "secret admirers" by night. Little do they know, the anonymous pen pals they are both falling for happen to be each other!
Tiny Beautiful Things
Adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos from the book by Cheryl Strayed
Jan. 10-Jan. 26, 2020
A richly funny, uniquely uplifting play based on the best-selling book by Cheryl Strayed (Wild). When a struggling writer takes over the anonymous, unpaid advice column, Dear Sugar, she uses empathy and her personal experiences to help others through obstacles both large and small. Tiny Beautiful Things is a play about reaching when you're stuck, healing when you're broken, and finding the courage to take on the questions which have no answers.
Indecent
By Paula Vogel
April 3-April 26, 2020
Dive into the fascinating true story of Sholem Asch's controversial play, The God of Vengeance, and the passionate artists who risked everything to bring it to the stage. Indecent celebrates the love, magic, and hope of the theatre even in the face of insurmountable adversity.
Arcadia
By Tom Stoppard
May 29-June 28, 2020
Often hailed as the greatest play of our age, Arcadia, takes place in the drawing room of the Coverly estate across two distinct timelines. The intricacies of the relationships in each time weave a spectacular tapestry and the result is an utterly delightful dance to the music of time.
Ada and the Engine
May 29-June 28, 2020
As the British Industrial Revolution dawns, we meet Ada Byron, a curious young woman and mathematician who is being pushed into a prestigious marriage. A music-laced story of love,friendship, and the edgiest dreams of the future. Ada and the Engine with be performed in repertory with Arcadia.
Austin Playhouse is a professional theatre celebrating its 20th Anniversary Season. Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Don Toner and Artistic Director Lara Toner Haddock, Austin Playhouse has grown from a three-play season on the campus of Concordia University, to a year-round operation producing an average of five mainstage plays a year along with theatre for youth productions and a new play festival. Austin Playhouse is currently performing at the Austin Community College Highland campus.
Photo credit: Photo courtesy of Austin Playhouse
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