Beck Center to Present SEMINAR, 5/30-6/29

Beck Center for the Arts will present the regional premiere of Seminar, May 30 through June 29, 2014 in the intimate Studio Theater. Show times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are now on sale. This production is recommended for mature audiences ages 17 and older.

Nominated as Best Play by the Outer Critics Circle and the Drama League, Seminar is a new provocative comedy from Pulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeck. This play tells the story of four aspiring novelists who sign up for private writing lessons with Leonard, an international literary figure. Under his recklessly brilliant and unorthodox instruction, some thrive while others flounder. Wordplay is not the only thing that turns vicious in this biting comedy.

Seminar is directed by Donald Carrier, the Associate Director for the Case Western Reserve University/CPH MFA Acting Program. "Seminar is ostensibly a play about writers, but it is applicable to the lives of any creative person," remarked Carrier, whose career as an actor includes nine seasons at the Stratford Festival and three seasons at the Old Globe. "It captures the competitive aspect of artists at work in a comedic and profound way, and provides the audience with a window into the rigor and discipline involved in the creative process."

The cast of five talented area actors includes Scott Plate (Leonard) and Lara Knox (Kate) who appear courtesy of Actor's Equity Association. Plate, an award-winning actor, has appeared at Beck Center in collaboration with Baldwin Wallace Music Theatre Program in the critically-acclaimed productions of Spring Awakening and Next to Normal. Knox, a seven year company member with the Ohio Shakespeare Festival, holds numerous local and regional acting and teaching credits.

Tickets for Seminar are $29 for adults, $26 for seniors (65 and older), and $12 for students (with valid ID). An additional $3 service fee per ticket is applied at the time of purchase. Preview Night on Thursday, May 29, is $10 with general admission seating. Group discounts are available for parties of 13 or more. Purchase tickets online at beckcenter.org or call Customer Service at 216.521.2540 x10. Beck Center is located at 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, just ten minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Free onsite parking is available.

Beck Center's production of Seminar is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc. Programming at Beck Center for the Arts is made possible through the generous support of the Ohio Arts Council and the generous funding provided by the citizens of Cuyahoga County through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

Celebrating its 80th anniversary, Beck Center for the Arts is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization that offers professional theater on two stages, arts education programming in dance, music, theater, visual arts, early childhood, and creative arts therapies, free gallery exhibits, and outreach education programming. For more information about Beck Center, visit beckcenter.org.