Westport Country Playhouse Hosts 2017 Season Kick-off Block Party on 5/6

Westport Country Playhouse will host a 2017 Season Kick-off Block Party, on Saturday, May 6, 4 to 7 p.m., offering a fun, party-like atmosphere with food trucks, activities, prizes, music, special ticket offers, and a look at The Playhouse's "backstage experience." Admission is free and open to the public.

"Come party with The Playhouse," said Hope Ventricelli, Playhouse marketing assistant. "To celebrate the start of our 2017 Season, we're throwing open the doors to the theater and offering lots of fun things to do, including self-guided tours.

Local food trucks, including Booth Bay Lobster Company, Skinny Pines Pizza, and Tipsy Cones, will be on site with their specialties available for purchase. Two Roads Brewery will offer beer samples. Music will be performed by The Funkees and Grawlix. The event will take place rain or shine.

Box office promotions will include 25% off all single tickets, subscriptions, and flex passes to the 2017 season's five productions. The discounts will be available one-day-only, Saturday, May 6, 4 to 7 p.m., in-person purchases. Ticket discounts are not valid on previously purchased tickets and are subject to availability.

Westport Country Playhouse's 2017 season, playing from May 30 through November 19, features five plays that cover a wide variety of theater worth talking about, from writers whose works are considered stage classics, as well as from contemporary voices.

Among the shows marking The Playhouse's 86th year is "Lettice and Lovage," a 1990 Tony Award nominee for Best Play, written by Peter Shaffer, author of "Amadeus." The comedy tells of Miss Lettice Douffet, a tour guide for one of Britain's stately homes, who creates outrageous, exaggerated stories to make the stuffy house's historic past more fascinating. Playing May 30 through June 17, Mark Lamos will direct.

"Grounded," winner of the 2016 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Production and a Fringe First Award at the Edinburg Fringe Festival, is a contemporary drama, written by George Brant and directed by Liz Diamond. An ace fighter pilot, grounded by an unexpected pregnancy, is reassigned as a drone pilot in Las Vegas where the realities of war and suburban comfort collide. Short-listed for the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award, the play runs July 11 through July 29.

"Appropriate," a 2014-15 Obie Award winner for Best New American Play, is a comic drama about family secrets, written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. When the Lafayette children gather to catalog their recently deceased father's Arkansas estate, they discover a shameful legacy. Directed by David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director, the play runs August 15 through September 2.

"Sex with Strangers" is a look at a modern relationship in the digital age, written by Laura Eason and directed by Katherine M. Carter. When Ethan, a young sex blogger, turned bestselling author, meets Olivia, a reclusive, thirty-something novelist, dating turns dark as self-reinvention is just a click away. The play will be staged September 26 through October 14.

The 2017 season culminates with one of the greatest love stories ever told, "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare. The tale of two star-crossed teenagers, who fight to love each other in a violent world, will run October 31 through November 19, directed by Mark Lamos, who theNew York Post said, "is among the finest Shakespearean directors in the world."

All play titles, artists, and dates are subject to change.

For more information, visit www.westportplayhouse.org or call the box office at (203) 227-4177, toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Stay connected to The Playhouse on Facebook (Westport Country Playhouse), follow on Twitter (@WCPlayhouse), and on YouTube (WestportPlayhouse).

About Westport Country Playhouse

The mission of Westport Country Playhouse is to enrich, enlighten, and engage the community through the power of professionally producedtheater worth talking about and the welcoming experience of The Playhouse campus. The Playhouse creates this relationship with the community and provides this experience in multiple ways by offering: Live theater experiences of the highest quality, under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos, from May to November; educational and community engagement events and opportunities to further explore issues presented by the work on stage; special performances and programs for students and teachers with extensive curriculum support material; Script in Hand playreadings throughout the year to deepen relationships with audiences and artists alike; the renowned Woodward Internship Program training program during the summer months for aspiring theater professionals; Family Festivities presentations from December through April to delight young and old alike and to promote reading through live theater; and the beautiful and historic Playhouse campus open for enjoyment and community events year-round. The value of the Westport Country Playhouse to all it touches is immeasurable.

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