SAN FRANCISCO: New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC) has announced its 2016–17 season, featuring three world premieres.
“Social progress continues and more of us are able to emerge from the shadows to join the conversation,” said founder and artistic director Ed Decker in a statement. “This season we continue the exploration of our lives by presenting a broad spectrum of plays that highlight history, personal expression, identity, unity, heritage, family and sheer joy.”
The season will kick off with the regional premiere of Harvey Fierstein’s Casa Valentina (Oct. 7–Nov. 6), about a conspicuous colony in the Catskills for heterosexual men to escape their families and safely dress like women in the 1960s.
Next up will be the regional premiere of Stephen Karam’s Sons of the Prophet (Nov. 11–Dec. 18), about coping mechanisms and the inevitability of loss.
Following will be the holiday return of Avenue Q (Dec. 2, 2016–Jan. 15, 2017), with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, and a book by Jeff Whitty. The adult puppet musical follows Princeton, who moves to a street in New York City with colorful characters after graduating from college.
The season will continue with the West Coast premiere of Daniel’s Husband (Jan. 20–Feb. 26, 2017), by Michael McKeever, about a homosexual couple grappling with the choice to get married.
Next will be the world premiere of Leaving the Blues (March 3–April 2, 2017), by Jewelle Gomez, an NCTC commissioned play with music about the life and career of legendary Blues artist Alberta Hunter. NCTC will partner with the Museum of the African Diaspora for special events in conjunction with the production.
Following will be the world premiere of Everything That’s Beautiful (March 17–April 23, 2017), by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder, about a family who relocates to give their eight-year-old son a fresh start and the opportunity to live as a girl.
The San Francisco debut of Del Shores’s Sordid Lives (May 12–June 11, 2017) will be next, about three generations of a dysfunctional family who gather in Texas after the death of the family’s matriarch.
The season will close with the world premiere of JC Lee’s warplay (June 2–July 2, 2017), a modern retelling of the myth of Achilles and Patroclus, about the relationship between two men during the Trojan War.
New Conservatory Theatre Center, founded in 1981, is committed to producing innovative theatre, and serving youth and the queer and allied communities with its programming.
