136 Rivet St., New Bedford, MA 02744-1814
Telephone: 508
993 0772
Fax: 508 993 1396
For
information contact:
Roger H. Allen, Publicity Manager
E-mail: ytinews@comcast.net
For
Immediate Release
5 PLAYS SPARK
YOUR THEATRE’S
59th SEASON
NEW
BEDFORD, MA - - - Five plays spark the
2005-2006 59th Season for Your Theatre, Inc.
Productions and running dates include:
David Auburn’s Pulitzer Prize-winner Proof, Sept. 14-24; Mixed
Couples by James Prideaux, Nov. 9-19; Martin McDonagh’s Tony Award winner The
Beauty Queen of Leenane, January 18-28, 2006; Ivan Menchell’s The
Cemetery Club, March 15-25; and Oscar Wilde’s classic The Importance of
Being Earnest, May 10-20.
Directors will be Dennis J. Amaral for Proof,
Robin Richard for Mixed Couples, Stephen Kay for The Beauty Queen of
Leenane; Lawrence R. Houbre Jr. for The Cemetery Club, and Edward J.
Maguire for The Importance of Being Earnest.
Subscription or single-ticket
information is available by calling the theatre at 508/993-0772.
Proof explores how, after caring
for her brilliant but unstable mathematician father, a troubled young woman
must deal with her own volatile emotions, the arrival of her estranged sister,
and the attentions of her father's former student, now a college professor.
When a disputed mathematical proof is found among her
father's abandoned notebooks, she is forced to confront her family's twin
legacies of madness and genius.
In addition to the Pulitzer, the play has
won Tony, Outer Critics Circle, New York Drama Critics Circle, and Drama League
Awards, among others.
Mixed Couples
is set in a 1927 New Jersey airplane hangar where the by-chance meeting of two
couples is ironic, since the four had switched partners 25 years earlier and
haven’t seen each other since.
One couple has settled into suburban bliss. He is a
professor. She’s a housewife and mother. The other couple are a wealthy,
hard-driving businessman and (after many years) a still-aspiring actress. Their
conversation turns funnier as their veneers crumble, and it is clear neither
couple gained what it expected from the switch.
The Beauty Queen of Leenane presents a universal theme because it applies to any
place where people are trapped by family or social circumstances. It’s a comic
tale of an epic battle in ordinary life.
The play portrays a manipulative mother and her
virginal 41-year-old daughter in a mutual loathing that may be more durable
than any love. As each character maneuvers for control of her isolated
existence, mother whines and bullies; while daughter resentfully meets mother’s
demands.
In The Cemetery Club, three Jewish widows meet
once a month for tea before visiting their husband’s graves. A love interest
kindles between one sister and a butcher visiting his wife’s grave. The two
other sisters aim to squash the budding romance. They become guilt-stricken
when their effort nearly causes heartbreak.
Often described as a farcical comedy of manners, The
Importance of Being Earnest centers on two men who both adopt the identity
of one’s non-existent brother “Ernest” to conduct their wooing of two ladies. A
matronly intruder proves to be the biggest obstacle to the lovers’ happiness.
In a poll conducted by The New Bedford
Standard-Times, Your Theatre, Inc. was rated the favorite 2005 community
theatre organization in Southeastern Massachusetts.
The poll, which asked the newspaper’s reader’s to choose
their preferred businesses and service providers in a variety of categories,
drew more than 4,000 responses.
In the theatres group, YTI was the top drama company
that uses only local area actors, directors, technicians, and staff.
Professional and
semi-professional theatre groups, as well as movie houses, also were highly
ranked in the poll. They included New Bedford’s Zeiterion Theater and Flagship
Cinemas, as well as AMC Cinemas in Dartmouth and the Providence Performing Arts
Center.
Company Has SouthCoast Focus
Founded in 1946, YTI is incorporated as a non-profit community theatre which seeks to enhance the cultural life of New Bedford, Southeastern Massachusetts, and nearby communities through the study and regular presentation of dramatic productions and other programs of high quality and professional standards.
The company also develops and encourages artistic talent
through the establishment and operation of workshops, theatre productions and
other dramatic training opportunities.