American Century Sets 2011-12 Season; Begins With THE COUNTRY GIRL

The acclaimed American Century Theater, led by Artistic Director and founder Jack Marshall, announces its 2011-2012 Season, featuring five productions beginning in the Fall of 2011 and continuing throughout Summer 2012.

"The perfect American Century Theater season, what we always strive for, is to accomplish a range of goals central to our mission: to present an American theater classic by one of our greatest dramatists-accomplished with The Country Girl by the great Clifford Odets; to celebrate a unique social critic working at the peak of his abilities-as in satirist Jules Feiffer's Broadway hit, Little Murders; to stage a riveting story famous from another medium-the screenwriter Budd Schulberg's theatrical version of On the Waterfront; to add to our list of honored 20th Century playwrights deserving writers that TACT had not yet featured-in 2011-2012, Christopher Durang, with Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You; and finally, to give TACT audiences a theatrical experience unlike anything they have seen or are likely to see again. In the coming season, that is Marathon 33.

Fall 2011

The Country Girl
by Clifford Odets
Directed by Steven Scott Mazzola
September 9 - October 8, 2011

No American playwright wrote better dialogue than Clifford Odets, and this crackling, complex mid-century drama about a troubled marriage complicated by the rollercoaster stresses of show business is one of his finest efforts, as well as one of the great American plays of the era.

Winter/Spring/Summer 2012

Little Murders
by Jules Feiffer
Directed by Ellen Dempsey
January 13 - February 11, 2012

A mordant comedy produced at the peak of Sixties insanity by political and social satirist/cartoonist Jules Feiffer, Little Murders is about a strange and dysfunctional family whose travails expose the illogical, frightening and hilarious nooks and crannies of the American psyche.

On the Waterfront
by Budd Schulberg with Stan Silverman
Directed by Kathleen Akerley
March 30 - April 28, 2012

The stage version of Schulberg's screenplay for the movie classic concerns union violence and corruption on the New York docks. There are many differences from the film that won 8 Academy awards, but all the vivid characters, speeches and drama remain, with some surprises in store for fans of Elia Kazan's masterpiece.

Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You
by Christopher Durang
Directed by Joe Banno
June 8 - July 7, 2012

Helen Hayes-honored director Joe Banno makes his American Century Theater directing debut with TACT's first production by playwright Christopher Durang, the hard-nosed comedy that takes on religion, dogma, and the Catholic Church. The play stars celebrated DC actress Cam McGee as the formidable Sister Mary.

Marathon'33
by June Havoc
Directed by TACT Artistic Director Jack Marshall
Musical Direction by Thomas Fuller
July 27 - August 25, 2012

We are transported back to the Great Depression, spectators of a dance marathon, as exhausted and jobless competitors literally dance for their lives. This was the acclaimed experimental play by actress/singer/dancer June Havoc, the real life "Baby June" of Gypsy, recreating her harrowing years as a marathon dancer. This theatrical tour de force combines music, dance, history and desperation in one of TACT's most ambitious productions.

http://americancentury.org/

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