SHIPWRECKED, et al. Set for Insight Theatre Company in 2011 Season

Insight Theatre Company is pleased to announce that its 2011 season will include the return of Joneal Joplin to the Heagney Theater stage in Shipwrecked! An Entertainment by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies with direction by Wayne Loui. Joplin will be featured along with his son Jared and his daughter Jen in this kid-friendly comedy of adventure and heroism which runs July 21-31.

Edward Coffield, a Kevin Kline nominee for Outstanding Director of a Musical for Insight's 2010 production of Man of LaMancha, also returns this season to direct She Loves Me by composer Jerry Bock with book by Joe Masteroff and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Based on the play Parfumerie by Hungarian playwright Miklos Laszlo, this musical comedy is about two shop employees who, despite consistently being at odds with each other at work, are unaware they've become secret pen-pals through a lonely hearts club. Also returning to work with Coffield will be musical director Ross Bell and choreographer Michael Baxter. She Loves Me runs Aug. 4-14.

The 2011 season opens with the St. Louis premiere of Becky's New Car by Steven Dietz. This comedy starring Susie Wall is about a middle-aged woman who has the chance to trade in her average life for an alternate adventure with an uber-rich elderly gentleman. Since its debut in 2008, the play has been received enthusiastically at regional theatres across the country from Sacramento to Cincinnati. Becky's New Car will be directed by Tlaloc Rivas and runs June 9-19.

And as in years past, the Insight Theatre interns will be featured in their own production. This season it's the children's musical A Year With Frog And Toad by brothers Robert and Willie Reale. Based on the series of books by Arnold Lobel, the show is about the adventures of two amphibious colleagues and their various woodland friends. The show broke new ground in 2003 by bringing children's theatre to Broadway for the first time and will run from June 30-July 3.

Insight Theatre Company will add a fifth production to this year's schedule, concluding the 2011 season with Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire. This 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama deals with the way family members survive a traumatic loss and features Jenni Ryan in the leading role with Jason Cannon directing. Rabbit Hole runs from Sept. 22-Oct. 2.

All Insight Theatre Company productions are staged at the intimate Heagney Theater at 530 East Lockwood on the campus of Nerinx Hall in Webster Groves. Show times are 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Season subscriptions are available by calling the box office at 314-556-1293 or by visiting the website at insighttheatrecompany.com.