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Monday, April 16, 2012

Last modified: Monday, April 16, 2012

IU Theatre explores human behavior in 2012-13 season

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WHAT: IU Theatre 2012-13 season
WHEN: Opens Friday, Sept. 21, 2012
WHERE: All performances take place in the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center, on the corner of Seventh Street and Jordan Avenue in Bloomington.
TICKETS: For ticket information, visit theatre.indiana.edu or contact the IU Auditorium Box Office at 812-855-1103.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 16, 2012

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University Department of Theatre and Drama announces IU Theatre's 2012-13 season. In conjunction with the College of Arts and Sciences' Themester "Good Behavior, Bad Behavior," this season features a series of plays and musicals that highlight human behavior at its best and worst.

The fall semester begins with the September run of "When the Rain Stops Falling," a sweeping portrait of multiple generations over 80 years by Australian playwright Andrew Bovell, confronting legacies inherited from prior generations. Next in the season, William Shakespeare's villainous treatment of the hunchback king "Richard III" takes the stage, followed by the new musical "Spring Awakening," adapted from Frank Wedekind's play of the same name. The semester concludes with the winner of the 2009 Tony Award for Best Play, "The God of Carnage," by Yasmina Reza, where a fight between two children reaches new heights when their parents intervene. (Note: "The God of Carnage" has been scheduled with rights pending.)

The spring semester debuts with "Intimate Apparel" by Lynn Nottage, providing audiences with a closer look at failed romance and custom lingerie. Then rumor and gossip will take over in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's classic comedy "The School for Scandal." Two new plays by IU MFA playwrights Kelly P. Lusk and Nathan Alan Davis will premiere in March in a repertory showcase, "At First Sight." Finishing off the 2012-13 season is "Sunday in the Park With George," Stephen Sondheim's innovative musical inspired by Georges Seurat's famous painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte."

2012-13 IU Theatre Season

"When the Rain Stops Falling"
By Andrew Bovell; directed by Murray McGibbon
When: Sept. 21-22, 25-29
Where: Ruth N. Halls Theatre
Awards: 2008 Victorian Premier's Literary Award, 2008 Queensland Premier's Literary Award. Nominated for six Lucille Lortel Awards and three Drama Desk Awards.
Synopsis: A sweeping portrait spanning 80 years, "When the Rain Stops Falling" is a story of fathers and sons, lovers, friends, husbands and wives: a grippingly intimate tale of a young man courageously defying the legacies of his ancestors. At times surreal and hauntingly close to the heart, "When the Rain Stops Falling" has enjoyed major productions in Australia, London, Stratford (Ontario) and New York.
"Mr. Bovell's poetically structured drama links an upheaval in nature directly to the repetitive, destructive patterns within one family, kind of like in Greek tragedy." -- The New York Times

"Richard III"
By William Shakespeare; directed by guest director Gavin Cameron-Webb
When: Oct. 19-20, 23-27
Where: Wells-Metz Theatre
Synopsis: Now is the winter of our discontent ... Follow the most-loved (and hated) anti-hero of the English canon as he seizes England's throne for a brutally short time. While history may question Shakespeare's portrayal of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, there is no question that this "poisonous bunch-back'd toad" lives on in our collective memory.
"I am determined to prove a villain ... and hate the idle pleasures of these days." -- Richard III

"Spring Awakening"
Book and lyrics by Stephen Sater; music by Duncan Sheik; based on the play by Frank Wedekind; directed and choreographed by George Pinney; musical direction by Terry LaBolt.
When: Nov. 2-3, 6-10
Where: Ruth N. Halls Theatre
Awards: Winner of eight 2007 Tony Awards, including Best Musical
Synoposis: This groundbreaking rock musical retells Frank Wedekind's controversial German play from 1891. The story follows a group of teenagers, including best friends Melchior and Moritz, on a quest of self-discovery, love, sexuality, friendship and rebellion. "Spring Awakening" holds a mirror up to our time and is the must-see musical of a new generation.
"Once in a generation, if we're lucky, an unexpected new musical comes along and changes everything. That is the thrilling achievement of 'Spring Awakening.'" -- John Heilpern, New York Observer

"The God of Carnage"
By Yasmina Reza; translated by Christopher Hampton; directed by Lee Cromwell
When: Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, 4-8 (rights pending)
Where: Wells-Metz Theatre
Awards: 2009 Tony Award for Best Play
Synopsis: When two 11-year-old boys have a scuffle on the playground at school, their parents face resolving the matter on their own. Despite the best attempts at courtesy and respect, hard truths and insecurities surface, pitting couple against couple, men against women, and even husband against wife. "The God of Carnage" takes a painfully funny look at parents behaving worse than their kids.
"God of Carnage is the rare play that manages to provoke uproarious laughter and deep discomfort at the same time." -- The Toronto Star
"A study in the tension between civilized surface and savage instinct." -- The New York Times

"Intimate Apparel"
by Lynn Nottage; directed by Jonathan Michaelsen
When: Feb. 1-2, 5-9
Where: Wells-Metz Theatre
Awards: Winner of the 2004 New York Drama Critic's Circle Award for Best Play, John Gassner Award and New York Drama Desk Award
Synopsis: "Intimate Apparel" tells the story of a young African-American seamstress in early 20th-century New York who is working her way through the social confines of her time -- predicaments that continue to haunt audiences today. Nottage's imaginative ability to find a voice in unexpected moments in the past that resonate in contemporary time has made her a powerful voice in theater.
"Lynn Nottage's new play is as memorably intimate as the intricate unmentionables its heroine creates." -- New York Magazine

"The School for Scandal"
By Richard Brinsley Sheridan; directed by Dale McFadden
When: Feb. 22-23, Feb. 26 and March 2
Where: Ruth N. Halls Theatre
Synopsis: Modern culture is obsessed with gossip and gleefully feeds on scandalous behavior, and it has been that way for over 200 years. Richard Sheridan's comedy has been delighting audiences continuously since its first performance in 1777, sending up a fashionable society whose wheels are greased by gossip and scandal. "The School for Scandal" is one class audiences won't want to skip.
"Surely it is impossible for anything to be cleverer." -- William Hazlitt, famed 19th-century English critic

"At First Sight"
By Nathan Alan Davis and Kelly P. Lusk
When: March 22-23, 26-30
Where: Wells-Metz Theatre
Synopsis: Indiana University's MFA playwriting program has been relaunched. "At First Sight" will feature two brand new, fully produced plays by Davis and Lusk. These original works will be developed at IU and presented in rotating repertory at the Wells-Metz Theatre. In the fall, audiences will be invited to staged readings of early drafts of these plays, allowing them to become part of the development process. Season subscribers will receive advance notice of such offerings and tickets to both "At First Sight" productions for the price of one. The next generation of playwrights is here; be among the first to witness their newest work.

"Sunday in the Park With George"
Book by James Lapine; music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; directed and choreographed by George Pinney; musical direction by Terry LaBolt
When: April 12-13, 16-20
Where: Ruth N. Halls Theatre
Awards: Winner of the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, several Drama Desk Awards and a Tony Award nominee for Best Musical. Also, in revival, winner of the 1991 Olivier Award for Best Musical and the 2007 Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production.
Synopsis: "Sunday in the Park With George" changed the very landscape of musical theater. Inspired by Georges Seurat's famous painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte," the musical depicts the inspiring journey, the joy and the heartbreak of an artist committed to realizing his vision. "Sunday in the Park" is a daringly theatrical portrayal of human creativity through the lens of one particular work of art.
"My favorite musical of all time." -- Stephen Colbert, "The Colbert Report"


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