Square One Theatre Announces Its 2016-17 Season

The Square One Theatre Company in Stratford, Connecticut announces that its 27th Anniversary Season will include the political intrigue of Now or Later followed by Chapatti, a gentle and heart-warming comedy that leaves audiences cheering, plus Becoming Dr. Ruth filled with humor, honesty and life-affirming spirit.

Discounted 2016-17 subscriptions are currently available for purchase through November 20 (2016). Single tickets go on sale after October 15, 2016.

Square One Theatre productions take place at its new location on the stage of Stratford Academy at 719 Birdseye Street in Stratford, Connecticut. Performances are Thursdays through Sundays.

Stratford Academy's expansive stage has been re-configured by Square One into an intimate 64-seat black box-type theatre. The audience is seated in new padded chairs on the stage along with the actors, insuring that all patrons have a good seat to hear and see. With this redesigned, modern venue no audience member will be more than 15 feet from the stage.

It's an election year and any theatre worth its salt opens with a political play to bring all the election coverage to a halt. Square One Theatre's production of NOW or LATER fits the bill...it's election night when a presidential candidate's son sends his father's political team into crisis mode. Controversial photos of the son at a college party go viral, potentially sparking an international incident. Smart and timely, playwright Christopher Shinn's exciting new play examines religion, freedom of expression and personal responsibility. The Boston Globe said "Shinn's nuanced and thought-provoking drama about freedom of speech is a heady and provocative brew...and it's over too soon!" According to the Times of London "Its brilliance lies in the way Shinn marries ideological debate to psychological complexity, shedding light, laser-bright and precise, on the way in which political discourse informs and shapes individual experience. Urgent and unmissable." Now or Later opens Thursday, November 3 and continues through Sunday, November 20.

The new season also includes Christian O'Reilly's Chapatti, described by the Chicago Sun-Times as "A deftmix of heartache, despair and gentle comedy that leaves audiences cheering." Romance is a distant memory for two lonely animal-lovers living in Dublin. When forlorn Dan and his dog Chapatti cross paths with the amiable Betty and her nineteen cats, an unexpected spark begins a warm and gentle story about two people re-discovering the importance of human companionship. O'Reilly's earnest, compassionate look at loneliness and the universal need for companionship speaks to everyone, but especially to the heartache and seclusion often felt by older men and women. Smiles, laughter and a few tears may be shed, but audiences will never forget the beauty and poignance of this tender story about two people who learn how to love." (ChicagoTheatreReview.com). Chapatti opens Thursday, March 2 and continues throughSunday, March19, (2017).

Becoming Dr. Ruth was hailed by The New York Times, "Dr. Ruth's story is certainly a stirring one and this is an illuminating portrait," concludes Square One Theatre's 2016-17 season. Most everyone knows Dr. Ruth Westheimer from her career as a pioneering sex therapist. However, very few know her backstory from fleeing the Nazis in the Kindertransport and joining the Haganah in Jerusalem as a scout and then a sniper, to her struggles to succeed as a single mother coming to America. Becoming Dr. Ruth is filled with the humor, honesty and life-affirming spirit of Karola Ruth Siegel, the girl who would become America's most famous sex therapist 'Dr. Ruth Westheimer.' Playwright Mark St. Germain, who deftly illuminates this remarkable woman's untold story, is also the author of two other Square One audience favorites, Camping with Henry & Tom and Freud's Last Session. Becoming Dr. Ruth opens Thursday, May 4and continues through Sunday, May 21, 2017.

Performances for each of the three productions are Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 4pm & 8pmand Sundays at 2pm.

Discounted three-play subscriptions at $50 each are currently available online or via mail order through Square One Theatre Company, 656 Longbrook Avenue, Stratford, CT 06614.

All performances take place on the stage of Stratford Academy. The GPS setting is 719 Birdseye Street inStratford, Connecticut, located off I-95 Exit 32 (northbound and southbound). There is plenty of FREE parking.

Tickets are:

$50 for three-play subscriptions

$20 for adult single tickets

$19 for senior citizens & students single tickets

Single tickets may be purchased:

By phone: Box Office at 203.375.8778(24/7)

Online at: squareonetheatre.com

In person: at box office 60 minutes prior to each performance

By mail: self-addressed, stamped envelope & check payable to Square One Theatre sent toAdministrative Office; 656 Longbrook Avenue, Stratford, Ct 06614-5117

The Stratford Academy is wheelchair accessible. Please inform the box office of any special needs when reserving tickets.

For more information and up-to-date news about suggested parking, the theatre, the plays, the actors and seating chart visit squareonetheatre.com