Sarasota's FST Announces Stage III Series

REALITY BITES!

Florida Studio Theatre's Stage III series will kick off its Stage III
Season in January with three plays that deal with reality, fiction and what
lies in between.  

First up is Edward Albee's The Play About the Baby.  Albee takes a
seemingly innocent situation and skewers it into an absurd world where no one is
sure of anything.  A young couple, madly in love, has a baby.  Or do they? 
They begin to doubt it themselves when an older couple invades their idyllic
life.  The older couple claims the baby never existed.  With wordplay
reminiscent of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, language is used as a
weapon and psychological warfare erupts.  The young couple's Eden-like
existence is torn apart and replaced by a ludicrous one where the illogical rules.

While the three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author has written works
that jump the boundaries of theatrical convention - and often defy them -
The Play About the Baby is the culmination of Albee's absurdist cycle that
began with The American Dream.  By taking a domestic situation that is
familiar and warping it beyond recognition, Albee plays with our perception of
reality - and underscores what he feels to be a problem in American
society: the pervasive and false sense that everything is "okay."  He delves
into our fears and explores our nightmares by looking at American society - the
fiction we believe we live, and the reality that truly exists.  He
describes these types of plays as "an examination of the American Scene, an
attack on the substitution of artificial for real values in our society, a
condemnation of complacency, cruelty, and emasculation and vacuity, a
stand against the fiction that everything in this slipping land of ours is
peachy-keen."

The Play About the Baby begins January 25 and runs through February 19,
2006.  Note: This production contains nudity.

Doug Wright's I Am My Own Wife, proves that sometimes truth is stranger
than fiction.  Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a German transvestite who murdered
her own father, survived both the Nazi and East German regimes.  Her story
transfixed American author Wright, who traveled to Germany to research
her life.  What he found was not only a story that is stranger than
fiction, but also the web of lies that a person can spin when their own survival is
at stake.

I Am My Own Wife won the Tony Award for Best Play as well as the
Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  One actor brings more than 35 characters to life in
this funny, touching and insightful play.  Mahlsdorf's story is a history of
quiet but determined fortitude in the face of the 20th century's most
notorious brutalities.

I Am My Own Wife begins March 1 and runs through March 26, 2006.

FST takes a walk on the wild side with Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the
first ever musical produced as a part of the Stage III series.  Part rock
opera, part stand-up comedy routine, Hedwig provides an energetic theatrical
experience different from the norm.  The brainchild of John Cameron
Mitchell and Stephen Trask, Hedwig actually developed in the NYC club scene
before its cult stature propelled it into a theatrical setting.

Often compared to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Hedwig and the Angry
Inch is not just shock fest, but a witty and often literate tale that
explores universal themes like love, acceptance and self-worth.  Born a boy in
Germany, Hedwig undergoes a sex change operation in the name of love. 
When it is botched, it leaves her more than a woman and less than a man. 
But nothing will stop her quest for stardom and love.  Full of grace and
hope, along with a hard-rock soundtrack, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is the
universal story of one person's quest for love - and an inspiring tale
about an outsider who got an inch when she deserved a mile.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch begins May 3 and runs through May 28, 2006.

Stage III debuted in January 2005 to answer an increasing demand from
local audiences for edgier works that showed the uncommon human experience
and challenged previously held beliefs and values.  Featuring plays with
bite, verve and drive, FST Stage III pushes the envelope of contemporary
theatre and brings fresh, edgy works to the Sarasota theatrical landscape. 
Singular in taste, fresh in approach, FST's Stage III offers the adventurous
theatergoer the opportunity to see plays that both challenge and
entertain. In its first season, FST Stage III attracted more than 3000 subscribers
and continues to grow.

Because of its challenging nature, the Stage III series may include
plays with language and/or situations that are uncomfortable or offensive to
some audience members.  Viewer discretion is advised.

All three shows in the Stage III Season - The Play about the Baby, I Am
My Own Wife and Hedwig and the Angry Inch - will be presented at FST's
Gompertz Theatre.  Single tickets range from $19 for previews to $29-32 for
regular performances.  A subscription to all 3 shows ranges from $39-52.  Both
subscription tickets and single tickets may be purchased from the FST
Box Office in person or by calling (941) 366-9000. 

Known as Sarasota's Contemporary Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre was
founded in 1973 by Jon Spelman.  Starting out as a small touring company, FST
traveled to places such as migrant camps and prisons.  The company
eventually settled down into a permanent home, acquiring the former
Woman's Club building - now renamed the Keating Theatre.  In the years that
followed, Florida Studio Theatre established itself as a major force in
American Theatre, presenting contemporary theatre in its three theatre
venues: the Keating Theatre, the Goldstein Cabaret and its newest
space, the Gompertz Theatre. 

Even with its growth, Florida Studio Theatre remains firmly committed
to making the arts accessible and affordable to a broad-based audience. 
Under Richard Hopkins, Artistic Director and CEO, FST develops theatre that
speaks to our living, evolving, and dynamically changing world.  As FST grows
and expands, it continues to provide audiences with challenging, contemporary
drama and innovative programs.

The Play About the Baby
Performance Schedule
January 25 - February 19, 2006

Wednesday, January 25 7:30 p.m. (Preview)
Thursday, January 26 7:30 p.m. (Preview)
Friday, January 27 7:30 p.m. (Opening)
Saturday, January 28 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, January 29 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, January 31 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 1 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, February 2 7:30 p.m.
Friday, February 3 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 4 5:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 5 2:30 & 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, February 7 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 8 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, February 9 7:30 p.m.
Friday, February 10 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 11 5:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 12 2:30 & 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, February 14 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 15 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, February 16 7:30 p.m.
Friday, February 17 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 18 5:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 19 2:30 & 7:30 p.m.

I Am My Own Wife
Performance Schedule
March 1 - 26, 2006

Wednesday, March 1 7:30 p.m. (Preview)
Thursday, March 2 7:30 p.m. (Preview)
Friday, March 3 7:30 p.m. (Opening)
Saturday, March 4 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 5 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 7 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 8 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 9 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 10 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 11 5:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 12 2:30 & 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 14 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 15 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 16 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 17 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 18 5:30 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 19 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 21 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 22 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 23 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 24 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 25 5:30 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 26 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Performance Schedule
May 3 - 28, 2006

Wednesday, May 3 7:30 p.m. (Preview)
Thursday, May 4 7:30 p.m. (Preview)
Friday, May 5 7:30 p.m. (Opening)
Saturday, May 6 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 7 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 9 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 10 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 11 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 12 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 13 5:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 14 2:30 & 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 16 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 17 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 18 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 19 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 20 5:30 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 21 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 23 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 24 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 25 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 26 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 27 5:30 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 28 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

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