The Nola Project Announces Its 14th Season

The NOLA Project theatre company is proud to announce its 2018-19 Season of productions, the 14th since the company's founding in 2005. Artistic Director A.J. Allegra says, "The 2018-19 slate offers our community a wildly-varied collection of stories meant to inspire and ignite the human imagination. Each production is fiercely imaginative and utterly theatrical in its creation. These are all stories meant to be seen, heard, and felt together."

The 2018-19 Season opens with the regional premiere of THE REVOLUTIONISTS by Lauren Gunderson. Guest director Joanna Russo leads the frenetic all-female production in the New Orleans Museum of Art's Great Hall where the company has previously presented Shakespeare's ROMEO & JULIET, TWELFTH NIGHT, and THE WINTER'S TALE. Four beautiful, badass women lose their heads in this girl-powered comedy set during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror. This grand and dream-tweaked tale is about art and activism, feminism and terrorism, compatriots and chosen sisters, violence and legacy, and how we actually go about changing the world. It's a true story. Or total fiction. Or a play about a play. Or a raucous resurrection...that ends in a song and a scaffold. "Following the great success of David Adjmi's MARIE ANTOINETTE from our 2015-16 Season, I hope this irreverent and brave new play showcases some powerful females from French history in bold and exciting new ways," says Allegra. The limited-engagement co-production will run September 4-16 in NOMA's

Great Hall. Next is the dark dramedy THE PILLOWMAN by NOLA Project favorite Martin McDonagh.

"In 2005, our first-ever production was a Martin McDonagh play (THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN) and ever since The NOLA Project has proven itself to be a perfect fit for the wicked McDonagh sensibility. This is our fourth time producing his work, and this play is somewhat of a dream production for many of our founding members," says Allegra. Known for his acerbic wit and frank dialogue, McDonagh's Tony Award-winning play centers around the interrogation of an author in an unnamed totalitarian state and the gruesome content of his short stories.

"Ensemble member Mark Routhier - whose previous credits with the company include BALM IN GILEAD, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, FLOOD CITY, and MARIE ANTOINETTE - is the perfect director to take on the tricky balance of horror and humor that this unique script provides," says Allegra. THE PILLOWMAN runs October 18-November 4 at Lusher's Lion's Gate Theater.

In its third mainstage production, The NOLA Project continues its notable reputation for site- specific shows with STOCKHOLM SYNDROME: Or Remember the Time Jimmy's All- American Beefsteak Restaurant Was Taken Over By That Group of Radicals? by Adam Szymkowicz.

"After we completed our production of CLOWN BAR in 2015, Adam and I spoke about a new collaboration. I said I wanted to produce a play about working in chain restaurants. He said he wanted to write a play about Stockholm syndrome, the bizarre occurrence when a hostage falls in love with his or her captor. I said, 'Let's do both.'" says Allegra.

The result is a musical comedy in which the employees and patrons of Jimmy's All-American Beefsteak Place are suddenly taken hostage by a group determined to make some drastic changes and speak to Jimmy himself. For this production, The Little Gem Saloon's upstairs Ramp Room will be transformed into Jimmy's as the action takes place amongst and around patrons seated at tables and at the bar. Original music for the world-premiere production will be provided by Jack Craft and Skyler Stroup of the band Sweet Crude. A.J. Allegra directs STOCKHOLM SYNDROME running January 16-February 9, 2019 at The Little Gem Saloon.

Finally, The NOLA Project returns to the New Orleans Museum of Art's Besthoff Sculpture Garden to close out the season with its sixth-straight outdoor world premiere. Set 15 years after Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, THE HENCHMAN: A Shakespeare Story by Michael Aaron Santos, reveals the true story of Jacob, the little changeling boy who Oberon and Titania quarreled over many years ago. Unexpectedly learning he the long-lost son of the King of India, Jacob discovers he must now flee his fairy-world homestead to escape the pursuit of Esau, Jacob's warmongering brother, who is hell-bent on dispatching Jacob, and claiming the throne. Oberon and Titania are forced to send Jacob with his faithful friend Puck to Greece to enlist the aid of Theseus and Hippolyta in an adventurous comedic sequel to the Bard's timeless tale. "What is especially exciting about this production is that we will be able to use it to showcase the new expansion of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at NOMA, including the garden's new amphitheater," says Allegra. Guest director Kristin Shoffner helms the co-production running May 8-26, 2019 in NOMA's Besthoff Sculpture Garden.

Tickets to all productions, including subscription sales via the Backstage Pass membership program, are now on sale.

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