Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater Announces its 2018 Summer Theater Season

Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater announces its 2018 Summer Theater Season featuring 4 outstanding plays and the return of WHAT for Kids.

WHAT's Summer Season opens May 30 with Academy Award winner Kenneth Lonergan's THIS IS OUR YOUTH, a meticulously crafted coming-of-age story set at the dawn of the Reagan Era. In June we welcome FIVE TIMES IN ONE NIGHT, a witty exploration of romance in five short plays by up-and-coming playwright Chiara Atik. God (albeit in mortal form) makes his WHAT debut in July in Emmy Award winner David Javerbaum's play AN ACT OF GOD, a sinfully funny conversation with The Almighty. Then in August RAGING SKILLET, based on WOMR favorite Chef Rossi's memoir The Raging Skillet: The True Life Adventures of Chef Rossi, A Memoir with Recipes serves up big laughs and tasty cuisine in Jacques Lamarre's theatrical adaptation. WHAT for Kids returns to The Larry Phillips Performance Pavilion with Stephen Russell's newest play THE MAGIC CLOAK.

Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater

The Julie Harris Stage and Larry Phillips Performance Pavilion

2357 State Highway Route 6

Wellfleet MA 02667

(508) 349-9428

what.org

THIS IS OUR YOUTH

By Kenneth Lonergan

The Julie Harris Stage | May 30 - June 22, 2018 | Previews May 30 and 31

THIS IS OUR YOUTH is a living snapshot of the moment between adolescence and adulthood when many young people first go out into the world on their own, armed only with the ideas and techniques they developed as teenagers-ideas and techniques far more sophisticated than their parents ever realize, and far less effectual than they themselves can possibly imagine.

In meticulous, hilarious, and agonizing detail, THIS IS OUR YOUTH follows forty-eight hours of three very lost young souls in the big city at the dawn of the Reagan Era: Warren, a dejected nineteen-year-old who steals fifteen thousand dollars from his abusive father; Dennis, the charismatic and domineering friend who helps him put the money to good use; and Jessica, the anxiously insightful young woman Warren yearns for.

About the playwright:

Kenneth Lonergan is a playwright, screenwriter and director. His film, You Can Count on Me, which he wrote and directed, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay, won the Sundance 2000 Grand Jury Prize and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, the NY Film Critics Circle, LA Film Critics Circle, Writers Guild of America and National Board of Review awards for Best Screenplay of 2001, the AFI awards for Best Film and Best New Writer. He co-wrote the film, Gangs of New York which garnered a WGA and Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. As writer and director of Manchester by the Sea, he received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and Golden Globe nominations for Best Screenplay and Best Director. As a playwright, he has been represented in New York by Lobby Hero, The Waverly Gallery (2001 Pulitzer Prize runner-up), and This is Our Youth (Drama Desk Best Play nominee).

FIVE TIMES IN ONE NIGHT

By Chiara Atik

The Julie Harris Stage | June 27 - July 20, 2018 | Previews June 27 and 28

Over the centuries, few things have wielded such power over mankind as the promise of a great romp between the sheets. FIVE TIMES IN ONE NIGHT wittily depicts couples discovering truths about themselves and each other while navigating the rocky terrain of romance. From Adam and Eve to the only humans left on a post-apocalyptic planet (with stops in the 12th century and the modern day) FIVE TIMES IN ONE NIGHT explores joy, excitement, danger, and disappointment in a funny and revealing quintet of short plays.

About the playwright:

Chiara Atik is a playwright, writer and blogger whose plays include Women, Daisy, and Five Times In One Night. An alumna of Ensemble Studio Theater's Youngblood writing group, Atik was also a staff writer on MTV's talking-head/sketch show, Hey, Girl! and Netflix's upcoming animation series Green Eggs and Ham. She also authored the book Modern Dating: A Field Guide and Paris is Lovely/Lonely When You're Alone. She is the author of numerous articles for Cosmopolitan, Glamour, and, New York Magazine.

AN ACT OF GOD

By David Javerbaum

The Julie Harris Stage | July 25 - August 17, 2018 | Previews July 25 and 26

God is back. And he's got a lot to say. Appearing live on stage and flanked by his ever-faithful archangels, the Supreme Being gifts his mortals with an entirely new set of Ten Commandments in a sinfully funny whirlwind of comedy heaven. AN ACT OF GOD is a 90- minute conversation in which God will reveal the mysteries of the Bible and answer some of the greatest existential questions that plague mankind.

About the playwright:

David Javerbaum has won 13 Emmys, 2 Peabody Awards, a Thurber Prize for American Humor and a Grammy for his work as writer, head writer and executive producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 1999 to 2010 and as the principal author for the show's two best-selling books, America: The Book and Earth: The Book. He also wrote two other comedy books, What to Expect When You're Expected: A Fetus's Guide to the First Three Trimesters and The Last Testament: A Memoir by God.

Javerbaum is also a lyricist who, in collaboration with composer Adam Schlesinger, wrote the 2008 Broadway musical Cry-Baby, the 2008 "Colbert Christmas Special" for Stephen Colbert (which won him his second Grammy), and a half-dozen songs for Neil Patrick Harris, including "Broadway: It's Not Just for Gays Anymore" and "If I Had Time", both written for the Tony Awards and both earning him additional Emmys. He also created the 2013 Amazon musical pilot, Browser.

Javerbaum is currently a producer on The Late Late Show With James Corden and created the political satire show No You Shut Up! - hosted by Paul F. Tompkins, and featuring a panel of Henson puppets - for the Fusion network. He is also writing a movie, International Incident, for Lionsgate with Carousel Productions.

RAGING SKILLET

By Jacques Lamarre

Based on The Raging Skillet: The True Life Adventures of Chef Rossi, A Memoir with Recipes

The Julie Harris Stage | August 22 - September 15, 2018 | Previews August 22 and 23

When a young Rossi's mother discovers the microwave, home cooked meals become a thing of the past. What starts as Rossi's rebellion against her Orthodox Jewish mom, chauvinism in the kitchen, and the pressures of conformity, ends with her becoming New York's #1 punk-rock caterer. RAGING SKILLET serves up big laughs (and tasty samples of Rossi's cuisine) in a heartwarming memoir of growing up, rocking out, and coming home.

"After 13 years hosting BITE THIS on WOMR and WFMR for the world's most intelligent, (and attractive) radio audience, I am KVELLing (Jewish for thrilled and proud at the same time) that the hysterical and delicious play about my life RAGING SKILLET is coming to the Outer Cape! Your gonna laugh your kishkas off". - Chef Rossi

About the playwright:

Jacques Lamarre premiered I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti at TheaterWorks in Hartford, CT and has received nine subsequent productions from Maine to Florida. He contributed "Merry Christmas, Blockhead" and "A Miserable Life" to TheaterWorks' holiday tradition, Christmas on the Rocks. His comedy Born Fat was workshopped at the Philly Fringe, premiered at Seven Angels, and was remounted for the Midtown International Theatre Festival in NYC (Outstanding Solo Show). Other MITF productions include Save the Robots and Gray Matters. His newest comedy My Vhite House Christmas Spashial vith Melania was workshopped at Seattle's Jewel Box and his "Scientollywood" comedy Honey LaBrea - The Lonely Thetan recently premiered at the Farmington Valley Stage Company. He was commissioned by the Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation to celebrate their 50th anniversary with Ned and Sunny, starring Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker. Jacques has co-written thirteen comedy shows for drag superstar Varla Jean Merman, as well as the screenplay for Varla Jean & The Mushroomheads.

WHAT for Kids:

THE MAGIC CLOAK

Written and Directed by Stephen Russell

The Larry Phillips Performance Pavilion | Dates TBA

This summer local favorite Stephen Russell brings his inimitable flair to the Grimm brothers fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses.