Jefferson Performing Arts Continues 47th Season With Two Productions in February

Jefferson Performing Arts will continue its 47th season with two productions onstage in February.

True West opens Thursday, February 6, 2025, at Westwego Performing Arts Theatre and Murder on the Nileopens Friday, February 14, 2025, at Jefferson Performing Arts Center.  Tickets are now on sale for both shows at Ticketmaster.com. A special preview ticket on Thursday February 6 is only $10. The remaining performances of True West are $25.

True West runs for eight performances through February 16 and is directed by local playwright and director Bennett Kirschner, who co- founded Intramural Theater in 2015.  He directs a cast of four, including Topher Johnson (Austin) who received a BA in Acting from University of Southern California in 2016 and is regular performer with Intramural Theater; and Phillip Yiannopoulos (Lee) who was a member of New Orleans’ Cripple Creek Theatre Company for many years. They are supported by accomplished local actors Joshua Tierney (Saul) and Deb Margolin (Mom), an award-winning playwright/actor and founding member of Split Britches Theater Company. Margolin is a Professor in Practice at Yale University in the undergraduate Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies Program and the real-life mother of director Bennett Kirschner. 

True West by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Sam Shepard premiered in 1980 at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco and has featured actors Philip Seymor Hoffman and Ethan Hawke in the volatile role of Lee in its Broadway productions, as well as John C. Reilly and Gary Sinise in the role of Austin, the educated, screenwriting brother. It is considered an America classic because it explores the themes of American identity, masculinity, and familial conflicts through the lens of two brothers with opposing lifestyles within the Hollywood landscape. 

Murder on the Nile, directed by Kris Shaw, is onstage in Metairie at Jefferson Performing Arts Center for two weekends February 14-16, and February 21-23, 2025.  Based on Agatha Christie’s novel Death on the Nile, it has gained recent popularity due to the 2022 Kenneth Branagh film of the same name.  Director Kris Shaw, a frequent director and principal actor in many JPA production for 25 years most recently directed Jefferson Performing Art’s Fiddler on the Roof Jr. and played Hercule Poirot in the 2023 Jefferson Performing Arts production of Murder on the Orient Express, directed by Janet Shea.

Both the novel and movie include Inspector Poirot, but the play does not. In Murder on the Nile, Christie chooses to explore the complex relationships of other characters without Poirot, allowing for more depth, drama, and suspense. This break from Christie’s usual formula adds to the play’s mystery and allows for more surprises and twists in this mystery set aboard a luxurious river cruiser. 

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