THE HUMANS, NAPERVILLE and More Announced for Buffalo Theatre Ensemble's 2020-2021 Season

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble (BTE), the professional Equity company in residence at the McAninch Arts Center, has announced its 2020-2021 three-play season. The season will open with Mat Smart's "Naperville" directed by BTE Ensemble member Kurt Naebig, and include Stephen Karam's "The Humans" directed by Steve Scott and Richard Bean's "One Man, Two Guvnors" directed by BTE Artistic Director Connie Canaday Howard.

"It is with great hope and optimism that we look forward to our 34th season. We know our audiences share our love of theater, an art form that uniquely allows us into others' realities, enhancing understanding for our lives as well as others we had not before imagined. All three plays in our season provide heartwarming looks, sometimes touching and sometimes hysterical, at people on the brink of great change - themes that have never seemed more relevant than now," said BTE Artistic Director Connie Canaday Howard.

BTE's 2020-2021 three-play season will include the following:

"Naperville"

By Mat Smart

Directed by Kurt Naebig

Featuring Ensemble Members Kelli Walker, Rebecca Cox, Nick DuFloth and

Robert Jordan Bailey

Sept. 10-Oct. 11; Preview Thursday, Sept. 10; Press Opening Sept. 11

Performances Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m.

It is Naperville, 2012. Anne works on a new project, T.C. is captaining the first shift as new manager and Candice and son Howard, back from Seattle, arrive at her favorite coffee spot: a Caribou. What follows is a day full of eccentricity, cups of coffee and affecting conversation creating a turning point that shows how community can add to your life. The New York Times says, "...everyone in this shop has a story, a loss, a regret, and Smart weaves their tales together adeptly." This funny and moving play is a heartwarming salute to the moment we discover a new definition of home.

Related free special events: Pre-show discussion with the director and designers

6:45-7:15 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 10; Post-show discussion with director, actors and crew Friday, Sept.18.

"The Humans"

By Stephen Karam

Directed by Steve Scott

Featuring Ensemble Members Lisa Dawn and Robert Jordan Bailey

Jan. 28-Feb. 28; Preview Thursday, Jan. 28; Press Opening Friday, Jan. 29

Performances Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m.

Breaking with tradition, Erik Blake brings his Pennsylvania family to celebrate Thanksgiving at his daughter's lower Manhattan apartment. As darkness falls outside the dilapidated pre-war duplex, spooky things go bump in the night and the family's deepest fears and greatest idiosyncrasies become revealed. Part thriller and part kitchen-sink drama, this finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and winner of the 2016 Tony for Best Play creates what the Chicago Sun-Times calls a "delirious tragic-comedy."

Related free special events: Pre-show discussion with the director and designers

6:45-7:15 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 28; Post-show discussion with director, actors and crew Saturday, Feb 5.

"One Man, Two Guvnors"

By Richard Bean

Based on "The Servant of Two Masters" by Carlo Goldoni and songs by Grant Olding

Directed by Connie Canaday Howard

Featuring Ensemble Members Nick DuFloth, Rebecca Cox, Laura Leonardo Ownby,

Kurt Naebig, Lisa Dawn and Norm Woodel

May 6-June 6; Preview Thursday, May 6; Press opening Friday, May 7

Performances Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m.

The ever-starving Francis Henshall finds himself working for both a gangster and a criminal in hiding, both of whom are linked in a web of schemes, shakedowns and seductions. To prevent the discovery that he is working for two bosses, Francis must do everything he can to keep his two guvnors apart, while still getting food and the girl. Playwright Bean transports the commedia dell'arte conventions of the 1746 "The Servant of Two Masters" to the seaside town of Brighton in 1963. Daily Variety calls "One Man, Two Guvnors" "...sheer comic delirium."

Related free special events: Pre-show discussion with the director and designers

6:45-7:15 p.m. Thursday, May 6; Post-show discussion with director, actors and crew May 14.

All BTE 2020-2021 season performances contain adult themes and language.

Tickets are currently on sale by subscription only. For a limited time (through May 31), subscribers purchasing tickets to all three productions in BTE's season receive a 25% discount off individual show ticket prices. Those subscribing after May 31 will receive a 20% discount. Tickets for individual productions go on sale Aug. 1. Individual show tickets are $42. Please note: The MAC box office is currently working remotely in light of COVID-19 distancing directives. Anyone wishing to subscribe, should email bteorders@cod.edu or call 630.942.3008 to leave a message for the MAC box office staff who will call them back to take their order. They may also visit AtTheMAC.org to download an order form and mail it back to The McAninch Arts Center, P.O. Box 630, Glen Ellyn, IL, 60138 or fax it to 630.942.3905. For more information about the season, including extra seating and audience service protocols for the 2020-2021 season updates visit AtTheMAC.org.