Saint Sebastian Players Sets 35th Anniversary Season

The Saint Sebastian Players (SSP) are planning a 35th season featuring plays joined by a thread of illusion: a farcical black comedy, a provocative late Shakespeare work and a thriller edged with humor.

The season opens with Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring. In this beloved comedy, two Victorian sisters are known throughout Brooklyn for their virtues, eccentricities and charitable acts. What their neighbors don't know is the sweet ladies are knocking off lonely old men with elderberry wine splashed with arsenic. When the sisters' nephew Mortimer comes home for a visit, his aunts' misdeeds and the schemes of his two insane brothers are uncovered. Adding to the chaos are a failed plastic surgeon and several cops making frequent, unexpected visits. Murder seems to be the family's M.O., and the harassed Mortimer may drive himself crazy scrambling to cover up the crimes and keep all from serving time. Performances are October 23-November 15, 2015.

Another classic on the season roster, in a different vein, is SSP's second production, William Shakespeare's The Tempest. On a remote island, Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, plots to restore order to his universe by reassembling the pieces of his banishment using artifice and skillful manipulation. He conjures up a storm, the eponymous tempest, to lure his usurping brother Antonio and the complicit King Alonso of Naples to the island. There, Prospero's machinations reveal the true nature of some characters, the redemption and resolution of others and a royal suitor for his daughter Miranda. Performances are February 19-March 13, 2016.

Concluding the season is Deathtrap by Ira Levin. Sidney Bruhl, a once powerful writer of Broadway thrillers, is struggling to overcome a pattern of failures and a shortage of funds. When he receives a script from one of his students, Sidney sees a future Broadway hit. With his wife, who is skittish at first, he devises a scheme to lure the playwright to their home, kill him and publish the script as his own. But when author Clifford arrives, it is clear things are not what they seem to be. With homicide and humor, the play turns into a deadly game of cat and mouse between Clifford and Sidney. Performances are April 29-May 22, 2016.

SSP began producing theatre in 1982 at its original home, the St. Sebastian parish, located at the corner of Halsted Street and Wellington Avenue on Chicago's North Side. When the parish closed, SSP relocated to its current home, St. Bonaventure, at 1625 W. Diversey. During its history, the company has produced original and previously produced dramas, comedies and musicals; original audience-participation mysteries for special events; and the Monologue Matchup Competition, as well as provided support for smaller Sebastian Studio Projects produced by company members. For a complete production history, visit saintsebastianplayers.org/Production_History_DULA.html

Performances for each production take place Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. at St. Bonaventure, 1625 W. Diversey, at Marshfield just west of Ashland, in Chicago. Free parking is available in two lots. Subscription packages for the three-play season are $40, $25 for seniors. Full-priced single tickets are $20, $15 for students with valid IDs and $10 for seniors. Group rates also are available.

All programming is subject to change. For information, call 773-404-7922 or visit saintsebastianplayers.org.

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