THIS IS OUR YOUTH & More Set for Custom Made Theatre's 2015-16 Season

Custom Made Theatre Company announces its 17th Season, opening with Kenneth Lonergan's This is Our Youth on September 18. The 2015-2016 season will be staged at Custom Made's new home, the Custom Made Theatre at 533 Sutter St. (at Powell) just north of Union Square, easily accessible via all Bay Area public transit and a block from public parking.

Artistic Director Brian Katz says, "we are thrilled about our 17th season, especially since it will open our new 99-seat home at 533 Sutter St. where we've enjoyed so many productions from SF Playhouse and Tides Theatre." The eclectic season includes a San Francisco premiere from acclaimed playwright Will Eno (Thom Pain: Based on Nothing), a revival of a John Guare classic, two world premieres (one that was commissioned by CMTC) and the regional premiere of an up-and-coming female Indian-American playwright whom Custom Made expects will be a household name before too long.

For 17 years, Custom Made Theatre Company has been uncompromising in its determination to present seasons of the most challenging plays and playwrights, those who have won recent critical acclaim, as well as world premieres of writers destined to join the ranks of the best of the best. Custom Made is proud to serve its growing Bay Area audience who hunger for plays by writers who make a difference.

As a sign of its commitment to new work, Custom Made has been accepted into the National New Play Network which links playwrights and theatres, supporting the development of new works. This association helps NNPN and Custom Made to open up opportunities with regional theatres and position itself as a key force for the future of American theatre.

Under the guidance of executive director Leah Abrams and artistic director Brian Katz, Custom Made has extended its reach into New York City, where it produces a staged reading series featuring new voices from around the world.

To assure continuity and quality of productions, Custom Made draws upon a core group of company members, both actors and technicians, who share this theatre's vision. In addition, the company is able to attract some of the most skillful and visionary directors from the Bay Area.

The upcoming season is proof of CMTC's continuing commitment to both recent award-winners and brand-new work - with two world premieres, along with regional premieres and Tony Award nominated playwrights.

The world premieres are all part of Custom Made's development process. The company commissioned Of Serpents and Sea Spray by Bay Area playwright Rachel Bublitz and held the first reading of Sam and Dede, or My Dinner with Andre the Giant by Gino DiIorio. Both plays are described in the season listing that follows.

Custom Made Theatre's 2015-2016 Season

Sept 18-Oct 17. This is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan

Just seen on Broadway with Michael Cera, This is Our Youth follows forty-eight hours in the lives of three very lost young souls. By turns caustic, cruel and compassionate, it is the real world. The New York Times said "it's sheer relief to celebrate...a rambunctious and witty play about wayward post-adolescents that doesn't turn youthful travails into plastic wrap." The Tony-nominated play with be directed by Custom Made artistic director, Brian Katz.

Nov 12-Dec 12. In Love and Warcraft by Madhuri Shekar. Regional Premiere.

Evie is a smart, socially awkward English major who has never had sex and doesn't want to. Despite - or perhaps because of - her virginal status, Evie earns money, Cyrano-like, by writing online love correspondence for her less articulate peers. Oh, and she's also one of the best World of Warcraft players in the world, leading a guild with her online boyfriend, and helping everyone "stay out of the fire." But when Evie meets a guy who really curls her toes IRL (in real life) can she beat the final Boss: herself? Directed by James Nelson.

Jan 7-23, 2016. Of Serpents and Sea Spray by Rachel Bublitz. World Premiere.

A CMTC commission written by emerging Bay Area playwright Rachel Bublitz, Of Serpents and Sea Spray tells the story of an orphan named Iro who is the subject of ridicule by other children and punishment by uncaring foster parents. During one of her many tours through solitary confinement in the closet, Iro's imagination brings her with a mission: find Pegasus. On her quest, she has many adventures... and along the way finds the truth about the death of her parents. Directed by Ariel Craft.

Feb 11-Mar 5, 2016. Sam and Dede, or My Dinner with Andre the Giant by Gino DiIorio. World Premiere.

It's a totally true story: 12-year old Andre the Giant, already over 6 feet tall and 240 pounds, didn't fit on the school bus. Andre's neighbor, as repayment of a favor, offered to drive Andre to school in his truck. The neighbor was Samuel Beckett. "Sam and Dede, or My Dinner with Andre the Giant," imagines a series of scenes between a giant - a man who cannot hide, and a writer obsessed with silence. Dilorio fashions a world as absurd as a Beckett play itself. A finalist for the 12th Annual National Showcase of New Plays in 2013. Directed by Custom Made executive director, Leah S. Abrams

March 24-April 23, 2016. Middletown by Will Eno. San Francisco Premiere.

An absurdist with the comic sensibilities of Jon Stewart, Eno's take on Our Town is a modern, funny, and dark look at what lies below the surface of our contained, sanitized communities. Eno follows the lives of the inhabitants of Middletown as they intersect in strange and poignant ways. It is a wry, human portrait of a town with two lives, one ordinary and visible, the other epic and mysterious. Eno is an Edward F. Albee Foundation Fellow, and Pulitzer Prize finalist. Directed by Brian Katz

May 19-June 18 2016. Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare

Inspired by a true story, this comic, fast-paced and affecting piece follows the trail of a young African-American con man who insinuates himself into the lives of a wealthy, white New York couple, claiming he is the son of actor Sidney Poitier, and that he has just been mugged and all his money is gone. Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Drama. Directed by Stuart Bousel.

Season Tickets are available at www.custommade.org/subscribe and start as low as $99 for six shows.