Stoneham Theatre Presents Buddy Cop 2 10/2-11/6

Stoneham Theatre presents Buddy Cop 2, written by The Debate Society, in association with the Ontological Theater; directed by Weylin Symes. Performances run October 20-November 6: Thurs. (7:30 pm), Fri. (8 pm), Sat. (3 pm & 8 pm), Sun. (2 pm). Tickets: $44-$48 regular admission; senior discounts apply; all student tickets $20. Student/senior discount matinees available. [Special pay-what-you-can performances every Thursday of the run.] Stoneham Theatre, 395 Main Street, Stoneham. Wheelchair accessible. For advance tickets and information, visit or call the Box Office at 781-279-2200 (hours Tues.-Sat., 1-6pm) or log onto www.stonehamtheatre.org.

Brooklyn-based The Debate Society - otherwise known as Hannah Bos, Paul Thureen, and Oliver Butler - had their hands full when in the Spring of 2010, their new Buddy Cop 2 production, developed in collaboration with the Ontological Theater, opened to rave reviews. With lines waiting to get in, one can only wonder: why would New York City slickers crave to catch a play about some small town police officers making do in Shandon, Indiana?

Midwest cops work up a big sweat playing on-the-job racquetball while coordinating special Christmas arrangements for a local dying girl's final wish. What would prompt citified "devised theatre" practitioners to zero in on such a hokey premise?

For one thing, Shandon, Indiana is definitely not Mayberry. Set in a recreation center turned police station (it's been like that for a few years!), Buddy Cop 2 keeps the audience bouncing around a plot that is in a perpetual state of unease, with quirky twists and turns that end up leaving everyone hanging. There's mystery, flirtation, guffaws, compassion, Christmas spilling over into the new year, and a dark cloud looming overhead, that very much sounds like a helicopter. And sweat, lots of sweat.

In true collaborative fashion, The Debate Society will be on hand in Stoneham during the first week of production. When asked how Buddy Cop 2 came to be born and to fascinate audiences, Paul Thureen replies that "Oliver [Butler] had wanted to do an athletic racquetball play, Hannah [Bos] had wanted to do an 80's cop play and I had wanted to do a super sad Christmas play. For a long time we thought those would be three different plays." Oliver Butler then chimes in: "With us, it's not like everything has to be equal parts or that this was some kind of democratic compromise . . . it just hit us all that THIS was the way these ideas needed to come together." "...and make a baby," Hannah Bos adds.

Stoneham Theatre's Producing Artistic Director Weylin Symes directs the New England premiere of this madcap piece, which features Melissa Baroni (as Officer Darlene Novak) and Paul Richard Yarborough (as Officer Terry Olsen) who occupy this racquetball court-ish police station over 90% of the time. Jerry Bisantz (as Officer Don McMurchie) and Emily Sheeran (who doubles as the dying Skylar and Brandi, the Governor's daughter) round out the cast. The Debate Society is excited about making the trek to spend a week in Massachusetts, since Stoneham Theatre is only the second professional U.S. company outside of New York City to dare tackle their off-kilter play.

"Little in Shandon is as it seems,
and the hilarious welter of details
masks the plot's sinister developments ...
Critic's pick."
[TimeOut New York]

The Debate Society, "a play company" founded in 2004 by Hannah Bos, Paul Thureen and Oliver Butler, is at the forefront of New York's current devised (collaborative) theatre movement. The company specializes in creating unexpected stories set in supremely intricate, vividly theatrical worlds. Typically their plays undergo a rigorous 12 to 18 month development process. The Debate Society was awarded a "Village Voice Best of Award" for "Best Argument for Devised Theater - 2010." They produced their hit Buddy Cop 2 at the Ontological Theater, home to many a Richard Foreman experimental play. This additional ingredient, a venue with a bizarre life of its own, contributed to putting Buddy Cop 2 on the map as a must see for non-traditional theater devotees. As stated in the New York Times, Buddy Cop 2 is a unique "melancholy mix of joy and malaise." The Debate Society trio are 2011 Sundance Institute Fellows. www.thedebatesociety.org

Director Weylin Symes studied at the Experimental Theatre Wing of the Tisch School of the Arts. He also spent a year in Albuquerque, NM, training law enforcement personnel by using role-playing theater exercises. Symes assisted in the renovation of the Stoneham Theatre building and has been with the Theatre since its inception, starting as Associate Artistic Director in 2000 and becoming Artistic Director in 2001. Following on the heels of the 2005's World Premiere adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, he penned an original adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. As head of the Emerging Stages program at Stoneham Theatre, he directed the World Premieres of The Girl in the Frame by Jeremy Desmon, Israel Horowitz's adaptation of Edoardo Erba's Marathon and Illicit Conversations, an evening of his own one-act plays. In addition, he directed the critically acclaimed A Prayer for Owen Meany, Richard Greenberg's The Dazzle and The Violet Hour.

Stoneham Theatre's production of Buddy Cop 2 includes artistic support from Charlie Morgan (scenic design), Deirdre McCabe (costume design), Jeff Adelberg (lighting design), Nathan Leigh (sound design), and Carissa Gerber (props).

MelRose Cooperative Bank is the sponsor of all three special Pay-What-You-Can Thursday performances.

Additional events at Stoneham Theatre connected to the production:

-- Buddy Cop 2 Talkbacks:
Thursday, October 20, following the 7:30 pm performance;
Friday, October 21, following the 8:00 pm performance;
Saturday, October 22, following the 8:00 pm performance;
Sunday, October 23, following the 2 pm matinee.
Join the creative team, including The Debate Society playwrights, in a lively discussion about developing and then staging this complex quasi-comedy.

-- Buddy Cop 2 Workshop:
Saturday, October 22 1:15-2:30 pm, prior to the 3 pm matinee. The young company at Stoneham Theatre is offering a workshop with The Debate Society, the creators of Buddy Cop 2. All workshop participants will then have the opportunity to attend the 3 pm matinee performance. Recommended age for participants: grades 10-12 (grades 7-9 with parental permission). Limited to 20 students. The $25 per person fee includes a student price ticket to the show. Further information can be obtained by contacting Laura Smith, Education Assistant, 781-279-7885 x114, laura@stonehamtheatre.org.

Special additional performance of Buddy Cop 2:

-- Buddy Cop 2 will have one additional senior matinee held on Wednesday, October 26 at 2 pm. All tickets are $25 two-for-one. This special performance is being sponsored by Salter HealthCare. Further information can be obtained by contacting Carol Dempsey, Director of Audience Development, 781-279-7885 x105, carol@stonehamtheatre.org.

Season Subscriptions for Stoneham Theatre's Season 12 now on sale:

Stoneham Theatre is located at 395 Main Street, Stoneham, in the center of town and close to several exits off of Routes 93 and 95. More information regarding Season 12 can be obtained by calling the Stoneham Theatre Box Office at (781) 279-2200, open Tuesday through Saturday 1-6 pm, or online at www.stonehamtheatre.org/subs.html.

Coming up next in Stoneham Theatre's Season 12:

The Nutcracker
November 25 - December 23, 2011
[Holiday show in repertory; book by Phillip Klapperich and Jake Minton; music by Kevin O"Donnell; lyrics by Jake Minton; directed by Caitlin Lowans.]
Not-your-father's Nutcracker, this fresh take on the holiday classic was created by The House Theatre of Chicago, the award-winning team who creatEd Stoneham Theatre's critically acclaimed The Sparrow (presented in 2009). For the family of twelve-year old Clara, a Christmas without her recently deceased older brother can never be the same. When her eccentric Uncle Drosselmeyer gives 12-year-old Clara a wooden nutcracker that happens to look just like her brother, a fantastic journey begins. After the nutcracker comes to life, Clara and a team of wise-cracking toys face down the evil Rat King in a battle that teaches Clara and all of us how to celebrate life while honoring loss. Adapted from the original tale by E.T.A. Hoffman, with live music from a 4-piece band. "Warm, kind, moving, inclusive... and wholly original... A splendidly empowering Christmas story." (Chicago Tribune)

Running in tandem with:

Sister's Christmas Catechism
November 25 - December 23, 2011
[Holiday show (irreverent comedy) in repertory; conceived by Maripat Donovan with Jane Morris and Marc Silvia; featuring Denise Fennell.]
Back by popular demand, Denise Fennell returns as Sister. Anyone who played hooky last year (or couldn't get in because it was sold out), should not skip class this year. Sister will cover all the finer points of the true meaning of Christmas and will create a live nativity with plenty of class participation!

Save the Date:

2012 Lights Up! Auction
Presented by Stoneham Theatre, with radio host Hank Morse, Auctioneer.
Auction held on Friday, March 16, 2012 with a champagne reception and registration beginning at 6:00 pm.
Held at the Hilton Boston/Woburn, 2 Forbes Rd., Woburn, MA 01801.
Lights Up! tickets are $75 per person or table of ten for $700. Sponsorships available.
For more information, contact Kelly Gaudet at 781-587-7901 or kelly@stonehamtheatre.org.

Stoneham Theatre, a professionally producing regional theatre, is the only company founded within the past eleven years ranked by the Boston Business Journal among the area's ten most popular performing arts organization, and in 2011, ranked by the Journal as among Boston's top 5 largest performing arts organizations. It is consistently praised by critics and audiences for its superior caliber of production, its connection to the communities it serves and its comfortable atmosphere. Weylin Symes serves as Stoneham Theatre's Producing Artistic Director. www.stonehamtheatre.org

Stoneham Theatre is also home to the Atelier Gallery, a satellite gallery of the Griffin Museum of Photography, showcasing fine art photography. For more information on the exhibition schedule, log onto www.griffinmuseum.org/exhibitions_atelier.htm. The Atelier Gallery at Stoneham Theatre is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 1-6 p.m., and one hour before each theater performance. The gallery can be accessed through the theatre's lobby; free and open to all.