Forum Theatre Announces Season8: Faith In Things Unseen, Opens 9/22

Forum Theatre proudly announces their ambitious eighth season.  They invite you to join them on August 29th at 7:30pm for our Season Preview Event.

We begin the season with MAD FOREST by Caryl Churchill. Playing September 22 - October 15, 2011, and directed by Artistic Director, Michael Dove (Angels in America: Perestroika, Scorched), MAD FOREST features company members Rose McConnell & Alexander Strain, and Charlotte Akin, Joe Brack, Matthew Dougherty, Ashley Ivey, Jim Jorgensen, Dana Levanovsky, and David Winkler.

On the eve of the Romanian Revolution, and under the eternal watch of the secret police, two families (one poor and one wealthy) struggle to retain their friendship -- and to survive the winter. But once the violence has ceased and the euphoria has lifted, will anything have changed? A blend of journalism, fantasy, and harsh realism, Mad Forest delves into the madness and fervor of a society on the brink of upheaval.

"Caryl Churchill uses every dramatic tool at her disposal to tell the story of Romanians at a turning point," says company member, Hannah Hessel. "The language, the characters, and the structure all serve the story and help to create more than just a play - they create an experience."

In the second slot of the season is THE LANGUAGE ARCHIVE by Julia Cho (winner of the 2010 Susan Blackburn Prize). Running from February 16 - March 10, 2012, the show will be directed by Jessica Burgess (Kid Simple, Rorschach's Beard of Avon).

George is a brilliant linguist, consumed with preserving and documenting dying languages. But at home, he cannot find the words that will preserve his disintegrating marriage. His archival assistant is mute with adoration for him; and his newest subjects, an elderly couple who are the last speakers of an obscure language, refuse to utter a word to one another. A magically inventive comedy, The Language Archive asks whether love is a universal language or, like Esperanto, just a well-intentioned dream.

"We were drawn to the rich lyricism of this play, as well as to the many facets of language that it represents," says Literary Manager, Laura Esti Miller. "Each character in the play is at the end of something monumental - a life, a marriage, a language -- and simultaneously, at the beginning of something."
In the third slot of the season is THE ILLUSION by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner, freely adapted from Pierre Corneille's L'illusion comique. Forum's previous productions of Tony Kushner's Angels in America garnered eight Helen Hayes Award nominations, winning two awards. The Illusion runs May/June 2012 and will be directed by Mitchell Hébert (actor Woolly Mammoth's Clybourne Park, Signature's ART, Round House's Charming Billy). This production will feature Aaron Bliden, Joe Brack, Gwen Grastorf, Mark Halpern, Brian Hemmingsen, Nanna Ingvarsson, Dana Levanovsky, and Scott McCormick.

Desperate to reach his long-lost son, an aging father turns to a sorcerer for insight. As the sorcerer conjures three episodes from the young man's life, his father is led deep into a maze of romance, intrigue, conspiracy, and murder. But just how much of it is true? In his witty and passionate adaptation of Corneille's seventeenth -century classic L'illusion comique, Tony Kushner weaves illusion with truth --and theater with real life.

Michael Dove says that Forum is "very excited to return to Tony Kushner's work. We have always seen his plays as perfect examples of the though-provoking and highly theatrical types of plays that influenced us when we formed the company. Along with Angels, this is a play that we've talked about doing for many years and I'm thrilled that we can finally bring it to life with such and amazing team of artists."

Rounding out the season is CHURCH by Young Jean Lee, directed by Michael Dove in July 2012.

"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Acclaimed playwright and director Young Jean Lee transforms her life-long struggle with Christianity into an exuberant church service. Both celebratory and confrontational, Church will test the expectations of religious and non-religious alike -- looking deep into why we believe what we believe.

Artistic Director, Michael Dove describes Church as, "a show like no other. It's more event than play and is the most original theatrical take on modern Christianity that I've ever read."

To supplement our full productions, Forum will also offer a new "Second Series" of artistic programming throughout the season. These events will delve deeper into the season's topics, while providing a home for challenging, casual, and on-going conversation. The 2011/2012 series will contain staged readings and short-run productions, hosted and commissioned local work, our traditional OpenForum discussions, plus three Forum (Re)Acts events, which invite local artists from a variety of disciplines to create artistic responses to the season's themes. The central event of the series will be Forum's Women Playwrights Festival this winter. Further details will be announced soon.

For more information about Season 8 and new second series programming, visit our newly designed website: www.forum-theatre.org.

Season 8 Memberships can be purchased online at www.forum-theatre.org/membership or by phone at 240-644-1390.

Season 8 Preview will take place on August 29th at 7:30pm. The event is FREE and open to the public. Please email chelsey@forumtd.org to RSVP.

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