Weston Announces Fall Foliage Production

The Weston Playhouse's 2018 season expands into the fall with Two Trains Running by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson at the company's new Second Stage, Weston Playhouse at Walker Farm, beginning September 27.

It's 1969, and urban planning threatens the demise of a popular lunch counter in Pittsburgh's close-knit Hill District. Owner Memphis struggles with whether or not to sell, and at what cost. Wilson's warm and personal portrait of a time of extraordinary challenge and change is Weston's 4th annual American Masters offering, featuring plays by iconic American Playwrights in productions by artists of national standing.

Two Trains Running premiered at Yale Repertory Theatre in 1990 and moved to Broadway in 1992 in a production starring Laurence Fishburne. It is the seventh play in Wilson's Century Cycle, a collection of ten plays that depict African-American life throughout the twentieth century. The original production was nominated for four Tony Awards and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Wilson's best known work, Fences, was seen at Weston in 2003 and was made into a film in 2016 directed by and starring Denzel Washington.

Weston's Two Trains Running is led by director Reginald L. Douglas, Artistic Producer of City Theatre in Pittsburgh, whose work has been seen at Contemporary American Theatre Festival, McCarter Theatre, and the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, among others. The creative team includes Scenic Designer Alexander Woodward (Williamstown, Dorset, Yale Rep), Costume Designer Sarita Fellows (NY Classical Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Juilliard), Lighting Designer Amith Chandrashaker (The Public Theater, Lincoln Center LCT3, The Flea), and Sound Designer Sinan Refik Zafar (New York Theatre Workshop, Berkeley Rep, Yale Rep). Production Stage Manager is Martin Lechner.

The talented cast features Weston veterans Guiesseppe Jones ("Master Harold" ...and the Boys, Fences, Of Mice and Men) and Raphael Peacock (Our Town, Raisin in the Sun, Topdog/Underdog) and Weston newcomers Lawrence Evans, Eboni Flowers, Bernard Gilbert, Cary Hite, and Beethovan Oden, with credits ranging from New York's Roundabout Theatre to Chicago's Goodman Theatre and San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre.

"We are proud to extend our season into the fall, thanks to the opening of our new year-round Second Stage," remarks Weston Producing Artistic Director Steve Stettler. Thanks to support from Clark's Quality Foods, Thrifty Attic, and the Windham Foundation, among others, over 1,000 local students will attend weekday school matinees with post-performance discussion throughout the run.

Sponsored by The Vermont Country Store, Two Trains Running runs from September 27-October 21 at the intimate 100-seat Weston Playhouse at Walker Farm (705 Main St in Weston). A Vermont Arts 2018 event, show times are at 7:30pm on Friday and Saturday, with matinees at 2:00pm on Saturday and 3:00pm on Sunday. General admission tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at (802) 824-5288 (Monday, Wednesday & Friday from 12 to 5pm) or 24/7 by visiting westonplayhouse.org.