The greater Binghamton area\u2019s longest running Equity theatre will celebrate its 10th anniversary season by premiering four plays never seen before in this region.\u00a0Included are two new plays just beginning to be produced around the country.\u00a0Both are from authors whose previous work has been seen exclusively on CRT\u2019s stage in the Southern Tier.<\/p>\n
Stella & Lou<\/i>, regional premiere May 27 \u2013 June 19.\u00a0Co-produced by NBT Bank and Pete and Karen Raymond.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Opening the 10th Anniversary Season is a play from one of our favorite playwrights, Bruce Graham (The Outgoing Tide-2013; Mr. Hart & Mr. Brown-2014).<\/i>\u00a0This piece, inspired by his parent\u2019s own love story, is a romantic comedy that proposes that a second chance at love is still possible, even for two people with a lot of miles on them.\u00a0You\u2019ll be laughing hysterically one minute, and grabbing your heart the next, in this gem of a play.<\/p>\n
On a quiet night at Lou\u2019s bar, two kindred spirits navigate changing times and past relationships. Lou is about to close up for the night when Stella walks in. She reveals an unexpected surprise and
\nan even more startling suggestion. Despite their differing ideas of romance, deep down they know they need each other. But can Stella convince Lou that she\u2019d rather stay than move away, if there\u2019s something to stay for? An exploration of friendship and the longing for companionship that grows with the passage of time.<\/p>\n
Last Gas<\/i>, regional premiere July 8 – 31.\u00a0Co-produced by IBM, Chobani Greek Yogurt and Esteban Fuertes & Alan Foster.<\/b><\/p>\n
The second show of the 2016 season is Last Gas<\/i>,<\/b> from author John Cariani, who wrote CRT\u2019s hit 2011 production of Almost, Maine. <\/i>Set in the far north of Maine, Last Gas <\/i><\/b>is the land of last chances \u2013 the last gas, last food and last phone for 41 miles before crossing over the border into Canada. It’s a little, family run convenience store, not one of those chain places. And this family isn’t quite conventional either.<\/p>\n
On the eve of his 41st birthday, Nat\u2019s old high school flame returns for her mother\u2019s funeral and walks into the convenience store Nat and\u00a0his dad run. Suddenly, Nat comes face to face with a chance to \u201cget back to happy.\u201d With a cast of delightful characters putting their noses into Nat\u2019s business, this exquisite new play explores lost love, love that\u2019s not quite right and love that is just right.<\/p>\n
The Smell of the Kill, <\/i>regional premiere Aug. 19 \u2013 Sept. 11.\u00a0Co-produced by Edward Jones Investments and Jim and Debbie Dyal.<\/b><\/p>\n
Suburbia: the final frontier. An unexplored wilderness where floating dinner parties belie the seething bloodlust of its primitive inhabitants. Take three delicious, malicious wives, add three unlovable husbands and chill. That\u2019s the recipe for The Smell of the Kill<\/i><\/b>, a tantalizing dark comedy by playwright Michele Lowe that\u00a0had Broadway audiences laughing and cheering. The story revolves around housewives Nicky, Molly and Debra, marginal friends who have tolerated one another during once-a-month dinners for years.\u00a0Nicky is married to an embezzler and is ready to kill for money. Molly is married to a stalker and is ready to kill for more sex. Debra is married to an adulterer and is just ready to kill.\u00a0 While their unseen spouses practice putting in the dining room, the women exchange confidences for the first time, revealing chinks in\u00a0all three marriages. When a completely unlikely opportunity presents itself, and gives each of them an opportunity to escape their marriages, one by one the women make their choices with more than a little help from one another.<\/p>\n
Taking Sides, <\/i>regional premiere Sept. 30 \u2013 Oct. 16.\u00a0Co-produced by Raymond Corp., Jim and Beth Daniels, and Anonymous.<\/b><\/p>\n
Set in the ruins of post-war Berlin and based on a true story, this provocative drama by Ronald Harwood explores the tension between culture and political power. The \u201cDe-Nazification Tribunal\u201d, led by a dogged U.S. Army investigator, has convened to take over the questioning of Wilhelm Furtw\u00e4ngler, the world famous conductor of the era. Prior to WWII, Furtw\u00e4ngler was at the height of his career. As the terrors of Nazism spread, many of Furtw\u00e4ngler’s colleagues fled, but Furtw\u00e4ngler chose to stay. Did he use his exalted position as \u201cHitler\u2019s conductor\u201d to help Jewish musicians escape, or did he fully support the Third Reich during the height of the war?<\/p>\n
Based on Furtw\u00e4ngler\u2019s actual diaries of his interrogation, the cast of six is led by two passionate men \u2013 one zealously searching for guilt and the other desperately trying to clear his name. Guilty or not guilty? Did history make the right decision? It all depends on which side you take.<\/p>\n