4th Wall Theatre Company Announces Its 2018-2019 Season of Houston Premieres

4th Wall Theatre Company announces an exciting line up of four Houston premieres for the company's eighth season. The 2018 - 2019 season includes two plays written by men and two by women, and brings a large amount of artistic diversity to the 4th Wall stage.

All performances take place at Studio 101, Spring Street Studios.

Kicking off the season is the Houston premiere of Stephen Adly Guirgis's award-winning JESUS HOPPED THE 'A' TRAIN, the story of Angel Cruz, a young bicycle messenger awaiting trial for the murder of a leader of a religious cult. While inside a New York City prison, Angel is befriended by a charismatic serial killer named Lucius Jenkins. Lucius has found God and been born again, and now, Angel's life, his lawyer's life, his guards' lives, and perhaps the trajectory of Angel's trial will be altered irrevocably.

JESUS HOPPED THE 'A' TRAIN was revived by New York's Signature Theatre Company in 2017, garnering rave reviews. Jesse Green of The New York Times called the show "Riveting, hilarious and heartbreaking - great art, burrowing deeper the higher it flies." The play is now the nominee of a number of Lucille Lortel nominations.

JESUS HOPPED THE 'A' TRAIN will run September 6 - 29, 2018.

This holiday season brings the Houston premiere of one of America's most-produced playwrights, the talented Kate Hamill and her raucous adaptation of Jane Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. Hamill penned the Off-Broadway smash adaptation of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY that ran for nearly a year at BEDLAM Theatre in NYC to rave reviews. In PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, eight actors bring Austen's most famous literary classic to life in a rollicking, festive evening of pure theatricality.

The classic story is that of the outspoken Elizabeth Bennet, who faces mounting pressure from her status-conscious mother to secure a suitable marriage. But is marriage suitable for a woman of Elizabeth's intelligence and independence? Especially when the irritating, aloof, self-involved, tall, vaguely handsome, mildly amusing, and impossibly aristocratic Mr. Darcy keeps popping up at every turn?

We are thrilled to be able to bring the original Mr. Darcy, Jason O'Connell, to Houston for the production. He'll not only direct 4th Wall's production, he'll also reprise his role as Mr. Darcy. Joining O'Connell as Mr. & Mrs. Bennett will be 4th Wall's co-artistic directors Kim Tobin-Lehl and Philip Lehl.

"Blissful mirth" raved the Berkshire Edge, "This PRIDE AND PREJUDICE [is] a special potion of affectionate, bemused cynicism and realistic optimism about human nature."

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE runs November 29 - December 22, 2018.

Gina Gionfriddo's 2013 Pulitzer Prize Finalist, RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN hits the stage for its Houston premiere in the spring. Gionfriddo says her play "can be viewed as an unwitting homage to Wendy Wasserstein's 'The Heidi Chronicles,' and it could not be more relevant today as we see the uprising for women's rights and the powerful feminist resurgence in the strength of the Me Too and Times Up movements."

It's the story of two women, Catherine and Gwen. After grad school, Catherine and Gwen chose opposite paths. Catherine built a career as a rock star academic, while Gwen built a home with her husband and children. Decades later, unfulfilled in polar opposite ways, each woman covets the other's life, commencing a dangerous game of musical chairs-the prize being Gwen's husband. With searing insight and trademark wit, this comedy is an unflinching look at gender politics in the wake of 20th-century feminist ideals.

The New York Times called the show "...intensely smart, immensely funny... with sharp-witted dialogue about the particularities of women's experience... RAPTURE more largely illuminates how hard it can be to forge both a satisfying career and a fulfilling personal life in an era that seems to demand superhuman achievement from everyone."

RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN runs February 28 - March 23, 2019.

The 2018-2019 season closes with the Houston Premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies's critically acclaimed COLLECTED STORIES.

COLLECTED STORIES is a two-character drama that takes an intimate look at the lives of a pair of writers, focusing on their friendship, ambitions, conflicts, rivalries and betrayals. Ruth Steiner, played by Co-Artistic Director Kim Tobin-Lehl, is an established scribe from Greenwich Village in New York. Famous for her short stories, she wants to share her knowledge and passion with the next generation of young and hungry authors. But when Lisa Morrison arrives, Ruth may have got more than she bargained for in this intense and often funny play about art and the creative process.

"As usual Margulies holds the rich ore of his material up to the light so that it sends beams in every direction...always fluid and lively, the play is thick with ideas, like a stockpot of good stew," said The Hollywood Reporter.

COLLECTED STORIES runs May 16 - June 8, 2019.

4TH WALL THEATRE COMPANY'S 2018-2019 SEASON*

JESUS HOPPED THE 'A' TRAIN (Houston Premiere)

Written by Stephen Adly Guirgis

Directed by: Kim Tobin-Lehl

Studio 101, Spring Street Studios

Dates: September 6 - 29, 2018

"Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train" is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (Houston Premiere)

Written by Kate Hamill

Directed by: Jason O'Connell

Featuring: Jason O'Connell as Mr. Darcy

Studio 101, Spring Street Studios

November 29 - December 22 , 2018

"PRIDE AND PREJUDICE" is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.

RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN (Houston Premiere)

Written by: Gina Gionfriddo

Directed by: Kim Tobin-Lehl

Studio 101, Spring Street Studios

February 28 - March 23, 2019

"RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN" is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.

COLLECTED STORIES (Houston Premiere)

Written by Donald Margulies

Directed by: Jennifer Dean

Featuring: Kim Tobin-Lehl

Studio 101, Spring Street Studios

May 16 - June 8, 2019

"COLLECTED STORIES" is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.

Tickets:

Premier $53; Standard $32; Senior $26; Student $17

4th Wall Theatre Co. does not charge any added service fees

There is a Pay What You Can performance of every production on the Monday in the last week of each run.

For the latest information about 4th Wall Theatre Company's upcoming season, to purchase tickets, and to receive exclusive ticket offers and advance notice of special events, please visit the theatre's new website at 4thwalltheatreco.com.

To post a comment, you must register and login.