Cutting Ball Theater Announces Its 20th Season

When Rob Melrose and Paige Rogers founded Cutting Ball Theater in 1999, they could scarcely have imagined that the company would be going strong twenty years later, or that the company's twentieth season would be a celebration of their legacy as they turned the reins of the company over to one of the Bay Area's most exciting young artistic talents. Cutting Ball Theater has announced a robust five-project line-up for its 2018/2019 Season, marking the company's 20th anniversary of crafting and presenting experimental theater in San Francisco and ushering in its Artistic Director transition.

The 2018/2019 Season begins with Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, in a translation by Paul Schmidt, in September and October. Uncle Vanya will be directed by Cutting Ball's founder and exiting Artistic Director Paige Rogers.

In November, The Cutting Ball Variety Pack - the organization's signature festival - returns for its second year. An eleven-day festival dedicated to exploration and collaboration, The Cutting Ball Variety Pack will feature directorial shorts, new play workshops, and roundtable readings.

January brings The Tenderloin Tour, which revives the "prime cuts" of Tenderloin, Cutting Ball's original documentary-style play from 2012 about its neighborhood, in a touring production. The Tenderloin Tour will run for a limited engagement at the theater and tour to community sites throughout the Tenderloin for free performances.

In March and April, Cutting Ball's incoming Artistic Director helms a reimagined production of the Viennese classic La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler, in a translation by Eric Bentley.

A limited engagement of Eugène Ionesco's The Bald Soprano, a revival of Cutting Ball's 2008 production directed by Founding Artistic Director Rob Melrose, closes out the 2018/2019 Season in June.

The 2018/2019 Season is the company's first under the leadership of Ariel Craft, who steps into the role of Artistic Director on July 1, 2018. "This season is a monumental one for Cutting Ball: we're celebrating two decades of generating bold, unusual theater for San Francisco Bay Area audiences and we're transitioning into a new era of artistic leadership," said Craft. "For the past twenty years, our founders have been at the helm. I am honored to build upon their artistic bedrock and am inspired by the creative possibilities ahead."

"In crafting this anniversary season together, my predecessor Paige Rogers and I wanted the programming to feel emblematic of who we are as an organization, to ensure that the core tenets of Cutting Ball are reflected onstage," Craft continued. "From re-envisioned classics to a community tour, from an absurdist masterpiece to a festival designed around artistic risk, this season is a reflection of where we've been and who we've become over these past twenty years."

Cutting Ball is introducing new subscription plans for its 2018/2019 Season. A four-show subscription package is priced at $109 and a two-show subscription package is priced at $54. Subscriptions are on sale now at cuttingball.com/subscriptions or by phone at 415-525-1205. Individual tickets for the season will be available for purchase on August 7, 2018.

A chronological list of Cutting Ball's 2018/2019 Season follows. For more information, visit cuttingball.com.