ITHACA, N.Y.: Kitchen Theatre Company has announced its 2017-18 season, the first under its new artistic director M. Bevin O’Gara. There will be seven plays in the line-up.
“The Kitchen’s 2017-18 season will consist of thought provoking, humorous, and heart-warming work that pulls into focus the connections we all share as human beings,” said O’Gara in a statement. “As always, the Kitchen will leave audiences with something to talk about on the way home.”
The season will kick off with Smart People by Lydia Diamond (Sept. 2-24). The play follows four people— a doctor, an actress, a psychologist, and a neurobiologist—who are studying the human brain’s response to race. Summer L. Williams will direct the play.
Next will be Brahman/I: A One Hijra Stand-Up Comedy Show by Aditi Brennan Kapil (Oct. 8-29). The play follows B, an intersex comedian, trying the explain and reconcile their identity. O’Gara, who directed the play in Boston at Company One, will revisit the work.
Following that will be Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan (Nov. 11-Dec. 10). The play is about one man’s experience with depression and how he overcomes it. Karl Gregory will star and Wendy Dann will direct.
Next will be Ironbound by Martyna Majok (Jan. 21-Feb. 4, 2018). The play is about a Polish immigrant and the men she encounters throughout her life. O’Gara will direct.
Then Kitchen Theatre will present Bright Half Life by Tanya Barfield (March 4-18, 2018). The play is about a lesbian couple who falls in and out of love. Sara Lampert Hoover will direct.
Kitchen Theatre will collaborate with Boston Playwrights Theatre to present Brawler by Walt McGough (April 8-22, 2018). The play will have its world premiere in Boston before moving to Ithaca. It is a modern retelling of Ajax set in a hockey locker room.
The season will close with Matt and Ben by Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers (May 27-June 10). The play is about a young Matt Damon and Ben Affleck who are trying to write their first screenplay.
Kitchen Theatre Company specializes in regional and world premiere plays and musicals, performed in a 99-seat space.
