Strawdog Opens 27th Season with THE ARSONISTS, Beginning Performances Tonight

Strawdog Theatre Company and Artistic Director Hank Boland have announced the first production of their 2014 - 2015 season, Max Frisch's The Arsonists, today, August 15 - September 27, direction by Matt Hawkins and adapted by Alistair Beaton, at Strawdog Theatre Company, 3829 N. Broadway St. Preview performances are tonight, Aug. 15 and Saturday, Aug. 16, Thursday, Aug. 21 and Friday, Aug. 22 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 24 at 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23 at 8 p.m. is the Board Preview. The opening night performance is Monday, Aug. 25 at 8 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. An industry performance is Monday, Sept. 8 at 8 p.m. Single tickets are currently on sale for $15 for preview performances, $50 for the Board Preview performance that includes appetizers, open bar and a reception immediately following the production, and $28 for the regular run. Subscriptions, group, senior and student discounts are also available. Tickets may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix toll-free: 866-811-4111.

Strawdog Artistic Associate Matt Hawkins (Red Noses, Big Love) returns to Strawdog to helm The Arsonists, a parable about society's capacity to accommodate the very thing that destroys it. Bidemann (Rob Kauzlaric), a prominent businessman, is living in a city that has been the scene of mysterious fires. When two strangers ask him for shelter on a rainy evening, Bidemann does what all good citizens should do and offers them his home. As the evidence begins to mount indicating his guests are the men setting the fires, Bidemann must choose what to do, turn out his guests or help them light the match.

The Arsonists, originally called the The Firebugs (was first published in German as Herr Biedermann und die Brandstifter, and sometimes translated in English as Biedermann and the Firebugs), is one of Frisch's most enduring plays and written in the years following World War II. It was first conceived of in a short entry in one of Frisch's diaries and the devised for a radio play in 1951. The radio play turned out to be popular, Frisch reworked it for the stage. The play was performed on stage for the first time in 1958. The cast also includes Strawdog ensemble members Scott Danielson and Sarah Goeden with guest artists Ira Amyx, Rebecca Wolfe, Lea Pascal, Jared Fernley, Mike Ooi, Neal Starbird, Scottie Caldwell, Rob Vignisson and Blair Robertson.

The production team also includes Strawdog Company members Mike Mroch, set design; Sean Mallary, light designer and Brittany Dee Bodley, costume design with guest artists Kenton Gott, assistant director; Katie Adams, stage manager; Laura Barati, production manager; Sarah Espinoza, sound designer/Asst. Director; Jamie Karas, props designer; Ian Olsen, technical director and Cypress Staelin, master electrician.