HAIRY TALES, VAMPIRELLA & More Set for Imaginary Beasts' 2013-14 Season

Imaginary Beasts announces its 2013-2014 season, Once Upon A..., which will explore the inherent darkness in fairy tales. The Beasts will tackle modern revisions of classic stories, including a world premiere by a local playwright and actor. The 2013-2014 season marks Imaginary Beasts third year as an Emerging Theatre Company at the Boston Center for the Arts. All productions will take place at the Plaza Black Box Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts. In addition to regular season productions, Imaginary Beasts will also debut two new programs: The Incubator, a development ground for devising and developing new work in a studio environment, and Wee Beasties, a companion program to our season productions that will offer family-friendly matinees related to their headlining main stage shows.

The season kicks off October 4 -26 with Hairy Tales, an innovative staging of Angela Carter's radio plays. Directed by Artistic Director Matthew Woods, the company will use their signature physical style to transport audiences into Carter's unsettling and irreverent imagination. Sleeping Beauty becomes a Gothic taleof blood lust in Vampirella, and in The Company of Wolves, Little Red Riding Hood discovers the beast within. To complement this adults-only exploration, Wee Beasties will offer family friendly matinees of Carter's comic romp, Puss In Boots, directed by company member and fringe favorite Michael Underhill.

Next up, the Beasts will present their annual Winter Panto, a traditional form of British entertainment that offers comedic fun for the whole family. While ubiquitous throughout Great Britain, Imaginary Beasts is one of the few American theatre companies to present a Panto annually. This year, the Beasts introduce their original take on Rumpelstiltskin, written and directed by Matthew Woods. Panto depicts the timeless struggle between good and evil through a hilarious vaudevillian lens, with cross-dressing heroes (the Dame is always a man and the Principal Boy played by a young woman), topical references, and pop music thrown in for fun. Adults and children alike will enjoy this rollicking rendition of a timeless classic, which runs from January 10 - February 1, 2014.

The season concludes with the world premiere of Boston-based playwright and actor Poornima Kirby's Mystery Play (Working Title). Hints of Hansel and Gretellurk beneath the surface of this dark, but redemptive play filled with loss, yearning, and transformation. We will develop this piece throughout the year, presenting staged readings, open workshops, and more, inviting our audiences into our process so they can experience the journey of this new and exciting work from conception through final production. The production will play March 28 - April 19, but workshops will begin in October and continue throughout the year.

Imaginary Beasts is part of the Emerging Theatre Company program at the Boston Center for the Arts.