Town Players of Newtown Announces 2011 Mainstage Season

On the heels of its highly successful 75th anniversary year, Town Players of Newtown has announced its mainstage season for 2011.

"I'm really proud of what Town Players accomplished last year," said Vice Chairman Chris Bird. "We had a very successful 75th anniversary season in 2010 with great attendance and several special events. 2011 promises to be even better with an exciting range of plays including comedy, drama and a classic period piece. We look forward to seeing all our regular patrons and hope that many new people discover Town Players this year."

Chairman Pam Meister added, "We're also very excited to announce the launch of our brand new website, which was conceptualized and designed by SandorMax, a local marketing and design firm in Sandy Hook. All of the information about the new season and just about anything else actors and patrons want to know about the theater is right at their fingertips. 2011 is definitely shaping up to be one of our best years yet."

The fun begins in May with the fast-paced British farce CASH ON DELIVERY! by Michael Cooney. Unemployed Eric Swan has been deceiving the Department of Social Security (and his wife Linda) by claiming benefits for imaginary people and pocketing thousands of pounds for himself. Unfortunately for Eric, the DSS is looking to verify his fraudulent claims. When Eric realizes his house of cards is about to collapse, he enlists the aid of friends to "kill off" his alter egos, creating more trouble - and insanity - than he bargained for.

The lazy days of summer bring SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER by Oliver Goldsmith to the Town Players stage. Charles Marlow, on his way to meet potential fiancée Kate Hardcastle, is duped into thinking the Hardcastle estate is an inn - which works out well for romance, since Marlow is tongue-tied around upperclass women but mistakes Kate for a servant, and she plays along. A second romance is carried out in secret between Marlow's best friend and Kate's best friend. Vying with them for the family inheritance is Tony Lumpkin, spoiled and foolish son of Squire Hardcastle's second wife. Madness ensues on the way to a happy ending.

Actor/comedian Steve Martin wrote PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE, which is scheduled for an early autumn run at TP. The year is 1904; the place is the Paris bar Le Lapin Agile - a hangout for artists, writers and other eccentrics who are leading the charge for the new century's avant-garde. As a 25-year-old Albert Einstein awaits the arrival of a female friend, he runs into 23-year-old Pablo Picasso. Each man is on the verge of a professional breakthrough (Einstein's The Special Theory of Relativity and Picasso's Les Demoiselles D'Avignon), but in 1904 they are simply full of youthful passion and egotism. They commence debating, each sure he is the one who holds the key to the new century's greatest idea. When a surprise visitor from the future arrives, playwright Martin adds a third major influence from the 20th century. The big question is which of the three will have the biggest impact on humanity - art, science or pop culture?

The darker, colder days of November usher in Sam Shepard's BURIED CHILD. Vince arrives at the squalid farmhouse of his hard-drinking grandparents for the first time in six years to introduce his girlfriend Shelly to the family - but no one at home seems to even know who Vince is, including Vince's father Tilden (a former All-American footballer but now a semi-idiot) and his uncle Bradley, who has lost one his legs to a chainsaw accident. It is only the memory of an unwanted child, buried in an undisclosed location, that can possibly hope to deliver this family from the madness that threatens to engulf them all. The New York Post said, "Shepard is one of the most prolific of our playwrights, and, for that matter, certainly one of the most brilliant."

For further information about auditions, reservations, tickets, directions and other events at the Little Theatre, visit the website at www.newtownplayers.org or e-mail info@newtownplayers.org.

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