City Lights Sets 2016-17 Season

The consultants in the psychological thriller Ideation have the courage to question the shadowy project they're working on. Victor Frankenstein dares to create a new being. The Calendar Girls are brave enough to pose nude. And then there's Lizzie Borden, who has the courage to ... well, you know.

City Lights Theater Company's 34th season, which begins this fall, is full of strong characters and brave tales, from 19th-century England to riotous rock. It's also about the bonds we build with friends, family and co-workers-and the ones we so memorably break.

"Courage. Compassion. Connection. That's the theme of our 2016-17 season," Executive Artistic Director Lisa Mallette said. "We're certainly taking artistic risks in presenting our second commissioned work, and so many regional premieres. And I'm especially excited about how many good roles there are for women."

Based in downtown San Jose, City Lights presents a six-show mainstage season in its intimate 100-seat house at 529 S. Second St. The company is known for its spirited, unusual lineups-in a single season, an audience may connect with a classic drama, discover a little-known theater gem, and rock out with a raucous musical on a summer night.

The 2016-17 season features a world premiere and City Lights' second commissioned work: Frankenstein, a new adaptation of the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley novel written by City Lights Associate Artistic Director Kit Wilder. An acclaimed director and actor, Wilder is also the co-author of the play Truce: A Christmas Wish from the Great War, which drew sold-out houses and rave reviews when it premiered at City Lights in 2014.

The new season begins this fall with a dysfunctional family reunion, Jon Robin Baitz's Other Desert Cities. Up next is the touching comedy Calendar Girls by Tim Firth, based on the hit 2003 film; followed by San Francisco playwright Aaron Loeb's darkly comic thriller Ideation. Kit Wilder's world-premiere adaptation Frankenstein opens next spring. After that is Gina Gionfriddo's Rapture, Blister, Burn, a witty look at modern gender politics. In the summer, the Goth-rock musical Lizzie rounds out the season.

Season passes for 2016-17 range in price from $125-$150 and are now on sale. More details are available at cltc.org (click on the 2016-17 link).

Performance details and synopses:

Other Desert Cities

by Jon Robin Baitz Sept. 22-Oct. 23, 2016

The Wyeth family is home for the holidays. But seasonal cheer dissolves when daughter Brooke announces she is publishing a memoir that dredges up a tragic event from the family's past, a wound no one else wants reopened. Soon, political differences, all-but-forgotten slights and painful memories become near-lethal weapons in an unforgettable war of wit and words that threatens to shatter the family.

Calendar Girls

by Tim Firth

Bay Area Premiere

Nov. 17-Dec. 18, 2016

When one of their husbands dies of leukemia, two close friends rally a group of women from a small English town to raise funds for a new couch in a local hospital waiting room. Their project? A tastefully nude calendar featuring themselves doing ordinary chores. The calendar becomes a worldwide sensation, but the resulting fame puts an unforeseen strain on the women's friendship. Based on a true story and the hit 2003 film.

Ideation
by Aaron Loeb South Bay Premiere Jan. 19-Feb. 19, 2017

In this gripping dark comedy and psychological thriller, a group of corporate consultants are brought together to work on a mysterious-and ethically ambiguous-project. They soon find themselves trapped in a world where ethics are an afterthought and the lines between right and wrong have become hopelessly blurred. Amidst office in-fighting and corporate paranoia, they must work their way through moral quandaries that challenge their values and beliefs. Winner of the 2014 Glickman Award for excellence in playwriting.

Frankenstein

adapted by Kit Wilder
from the novel by Mary Shelley World Premiere
March 23-April 23, 2017

From Associate Artistic Director Kit Wilder, co-author of Truce: A Christmas Wish from the Great War, comes this world-premiere adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic cautionary tale of what happens when science and technology blur the lines between man and God. Think you've seen Frankenstein? Think again. This cutting-edge production is bound to be one of City Lights' most electrifying creations, conceived as only City Lights would dare.

Rapture, Blister, Burn by Gina Gionfriddo South Bay Premiere May 18-June 18, 2017

Catherine wants what her friend Gwen has: a husband and children. Maybe. Gwen wants to be what Catherine is: a famous academic and cultural pundit. Toss in Catherine's widowed but feisty mother, a young former stripper, Gwen's flawed husband, feminist theory, Dr. Phil and lots of martinis, and you have the makings of this unflinching, witty look at modern gender politics and the pain and frustrations we go through to find happiness.

Lizzie

music by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Alan Stevens Hewitt lyrics by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Tim Maner
book by Tim Maner
July 13-Aug. 20, 2017

South Bay Premiere

"Lizzie Borden took an axe..." You know the children's rhyme, but do you really know the story of Lizzie Borden? The Massachusetts spinster was put on trial for dispatching her parents with a hatchet in the summer of 1892, but was later acquitted of the crime. This Goth-rock musical with a riot-girl attitude tells the tale of Lizzie as you've never heard it before: a story of revenge, sexual repression, anger, despair and ultimate release.

Since 1982, the nonprofit City Lights Theater Company has been inspiring and challenging audiences with an exciting mix of plays and musicals, many new works. The company's downtown San Jose theater is a bustling, intimate 100-seat space that attracts artists, educators, students and playgoers alike.

Committed to presenting thought-provoking plays that speak strongly to audiences, the company also develops new plays through the New Play Readers Series, with some scripts joining a regular season. Other special events include appearances by local musicians in the Lights & Music concert series.

In addition, City Lights is widely regarded as a nurturing space in which up-and-coming actors, directors, designers, and technicians can develop their skills alongside top-notch professionals. Executive Artistic Director Lisa Mallette has led the company since 2001. Since then, City Lights has been recognized not only for expanding its artistic reach and achievement, but also for its sound fiscal management; 2014- 2015 marked the company's 12th consecutive season in the black.

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