Concordia Theater announced “The Importance of Being Earnest,” “Urinetown,” “The Long Christmas Ride Home,” and “Much Ado about Nothing” as the four plays for the 2013-14 season on Monday.
The season will begin in October with Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy of manners, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” a raucous romp of mistaken identity and high society. English gentlemen Jack and Algernon deceive the ladies they love, Gwendolyn and Cecily, by pretending to be the titular “earnest.” Wilde incorporates elements of farce and satire into witty dialogue, posing questions about the nature of marriage and the hypocrisy of the upper-class. Often considered to be Wilde’s greatest and most popular work, “The Importance of Being Earnest” is a delightfully well-made play full of colorful characters and sparkling language.
Imagine a world where a 20-year-drought has pulled the plug on private toilets. Public restrooms have become the only option and it suddenly becomes “a privilege to pee” when the megacorportation, The Urine Good Company demands money for all restroom activities. “Urinetown” is the musical tale of a terrifying dystopian society where one brave young man, Bobby Strong, dares to stand up to the UGC, starting a pee-for-free rebellion which sparks a revolution against corrupt cops and corporations. Does he succeed? Find out in Concordia Theatre’s production of this satirical comedy musical, to be performed in November. With a Tony Award-winning score and book by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis, “Urinetown” is one of the most original and creative musicals of the last twenty years. Appropriate for teenage audiences and older.
“The Long Christmas Ride Home” by Obie Award and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Paula Vogel is a humorous and emotional look at family, love, and how our childhood experiences impact our adult lives. Combining theatrical puppetry with an homage to several works of Thornton Wilder, “The Long Christmas Ride Home” tells the tale of a family driving home after a catastrophic Christmas dinner with their grandparents. The journey is filled with arguments, threats of sickness and much laughter. The third Concordia Theatre production of the season, “The Long Christmas Ride Home” will be performed in February in the Theatre Lab. Appropriate for teenage audiences and older.
Shakespeare’s comedic masterpiece “Much Ado About Nothing” will close the season in April. Originally performed to celebrate the marriage of Princess Elizabeth Stuart to Frederick V in late 1612, “Much Ado About Nothing” is bursting with honor, deception, and love. Following the war Don Pedro and his officers visit Leonato’s house. At a masked ball, jealous Don John sets a plot in motion to upset the happiness of newly engaged Hero and Claudio. Meanwhile Beatrice and Benedick exchange quick-witted, sharp-tongued words defending the honor of their kinsfolk, all the while, falling in love with one another.
Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students and seniors and free for Concordia students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
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