PITTSBURGH: City Theatre Company has announced its 2016–17 season, featuring six new plays, including the world premiere of a Sharon Washington play.
“I am thrilled to announce the six plays of our 42nd season,” said artistic director Tracy Brigden in a statement. “It will be a year of exceptional storytelling by incredibly talented playwrights. The characters they’ve created are wholly unique and intensely human—they leap off the page, hurtling from side-splitting hilarity to heartbreaking loss to unstoppable tenacity.”
The season will begin with Hand to God (Sept. 24–Oct. 16) by Robert Askins, about a Christian teenager whose sock puppet becomes possessed by the devil. Brigden will direct.
Following will be the world premiere of Feeding the Dragon (Oct. 22–Nov. 20) written and performed by Sharon Washington, about the monstrous coal furnace in the bowels of the New York Public Library that Sharon’s father fed as the library’s live-in custodian.
The season will continue with the Marco Ramirez’s The Royale (Jan. 21–Feb. 12, 2017), inspired by the true story of boxer Jack Johnson and his quest for victory. Stuart Carden will direct.
Next up will be Jessica Dickey’s The Guard (March 11–April 2, 2017), about a dedicated museum guard and the love he has for the paintings he protects, and the intersection of art and real life. Brigden will direct.
Following that will be Colman Domingo’s Wild with Happy (April 8–May 7, 2017), about a struggling actor who returns home for his mother’s funeral. Reginald L. Douglas will direct.
The season will conclude with Martyna Majok’s Ironbound (May 13–June 4, 2017), about a Polish immigrant living in New Jersey, and her search for the American Dream. Brigden will direct.
City Theatre Company, founded in 1975, is committed to developing and producing new plays.
