Jobsite 2020/21 Season Announced; DOUBT Suspended at Straz Center

While Jobsite's production of DOUBT, A Parable, is temporarily suspended in light of the current national health crisis, the resident theater company of the Straz Center is not delaying the release of their new season.

The Straz Center has suspended all performances through April 19 but Jobsite plans to open DOUBT as soon as a clear timeline presents itself. The suspension came on the morning of the show's opening after audiences raved over the previews. Current DOUBT ticketholders will be contacted with options as soon as a plan emerges.

The 20/21 season is Jobsite's 22nd year of bringing the Tampa Bay region gripping, powerful experiences in an intimate environment. Producing Artistic Director David M. Jenkins beams "Our current season carries the tagline "a great reckoning in a Little Room" and we're building upon that guiding principle even further in the new season. We believe the 2020/21 line-up to be among our finest, most challenging, and most breathtaking collections. We're proud to offer a darkly delicious Halloween treat, our first Shakespeare history, one of the most iconic dystopias penned by the author himself, a hilariously creepy musical entertainment, and a gut-busting irreverent satire that was recently a hit on Broadway."

The 20/21 season focuses on several pieces of great literature adapted to the stage and also on the musical collaborations Jobsite has fostered over the past few years. A season pass is the best way to save money and to show your support for Jobsite's ensemble of 50 regional artists.

Dr. Ride's American Beach House

By Liza Birkenmeier
Sep. 11-Oct. 4, previews Sep. 9-10

It's 1983 - the evening before Dr. Sally Ride's historic space flight. A group of women friends gather on a sweltering St. Louis rooftop, each caught in their own failure-to-launch. This enticing juxtaposition thrusts the women into the space of their uncharted desires where they bump against American norms of sex and power in this intimate snapshot of queer anti-heroines. CRITICS PICK, "A revelation" - The New York Times. "Birkenmeier's play probes what it means to live authentically" - Curtain Up. "Witty and playful" - New York Theater. "Luscious. Funny. Erotic." - New York Magazine.

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, from the novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Oct. 23 - Nov. 15, previews Oct. 21-22

On the fog-bound streets of Victorian-era London, Henry Jekyll's experiments with exotic "powders and tinctures" have brought forth his other self: Edward Hyde, a sensualist and villain free to commit the sins Jekyll is too civilized to comprehend. When the dastardly Hyde meets a woman who stirs his interest, Jekyll fears for her life and decides to end his experiments-but Hyde has other ideas. The two sides battle each other in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse to determine who shall be the master and who his slave. This play presents a new and shocking version of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of depravity, lust, love and horror. "Hatcher has fashioned a play that seems truer to Stevenson but hipper, sexier ... it is intense." -San Francisco Chronicle.

Henry V

By William Shakespeare
Jan. 15 - Feb. 7, 2021, previews Jan. 13-14

England's in tumult and who ascends the throne but playboy Prince Hal-an untested royal who spent his youth slumming around London. Now crowned King Henry V, he must win the respect of a nation and lead his country to greatness in an epic battle with archnemesis France. Henry gathers his troops and marches abroad only to find himself outmanned, outgunned and outmatched. In the face of death, Henry must also face himself. Can he become the king his country needs? In the annual season tradition, Jobsite reboots Shakespeare for modern times, taking Henry's timeless tale and setting it to an original, blistering industrial score. High-def video transforms Shakespeare's work into a modern, mesmerizing spectacle of tension, nationalism and excitement.

Weekday field trip matinees for middle and high school students are available starting Jan. 20. All groups attending our field trip performances are given custom study guides and the ability to have a visit from a teaching artist both before and after your show. Additional opportunities include on site pre- or post-show tours or Q&As. Please call 813.222.1016 or write Spencer.Meyers@strazcenter.org to learn more about our education program.

A Clockwork Orange: A Play with Music

By Anthony Burgess, adapted from his novel
March 12 - April 4, 2021, previews March 10-11

Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange lures audiences into a glass-edged, testosterone-filled underworld of a dystopian future. In 1962, the explosive tale of little Alex and his band of Droogs was a ground-breaking insta-classic teeming with sexuality and "a bit of the old ultra-violence." The story feels as hauntingly relevant today as when the book was published in 1962 and when Stanley Kubrick's Oscar-nominated film caused a stir in 1971. A Clockwork Orange remains an unapologetic celebration of the human condition and individual freedoms.

Shockheaded Peter

Created for the stage by Julian Crouch and Phelim McDermott
Original music by The Tiger Lillies
Based on Struwwelpeter by Heinrich Hoffmann
April 30 - May 23, 2021, previews April 28-29

A little bit Edward Gorey, a little bit Nightmare Before Christmas, Shockheaded Peter is the phantasmagorical musical staging of Heinrich Hoffman's dark, mildly-terrifying 19th-century German children's book Struwwelpeter. The show illuminates graphic cautionary tales about a cast of disobedient children like Young Harriett and her pyrotechnic tendencies, little Conrad and his insatiable thumb-sucking and a handful of other misbehaving youngsters who come to untimely and hilariously horrific ends. This production will be of a special, devilishly dark delight to fans of Jobsite's much-beloved production of Gorey Stories.

Hand to God

By Robert Askins
July 9 - Aug. 1, 2021, previews July 7-8

Meek and mild Jason takes solace in the Christian Puppet Ministry after the death of his father. When his originally soft-spoken puppet Tyrone takes on a shocking personality then possesses his arm, Jason unwittingly throws the town of Cypress, Texas into a tizzy. Jason's complicated relationships with the town pastor, the school bully, the girl next door and-most especially-his mother weather further turbulence at the hands of Tyrone's dangerously irreverent personality. Hand to God
explores the fragile nature of faith, morality and the ties that bind us.

A season pass is on sale as of Mar. 16 for up to 70% less than the price of single tickets. A six-show pass is $135.90 through May 25, at which time it increases to $171.60. Season passes are not subject to additional fees and are afforded unlimited free ticketing exchanges plus the ability to purchase additional tickets at a discount. Single tickets start at $34.50 and increase by performance date based on demand and are subject to ticketing fees. A pass to the Thu. night previews is $78. To purchase a pass visit jobsitetheater.org or call The Straz Center Ticket Office at 813.229.7827 between noon and 8p daily. Single tickets will go on sale later this summer at time TBA.

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