St. Petersburg’s American Stage has just announced its 2015-16 season, and it’s an eclectic one, neither very light nor very heavy. If there’s a controlling principle, it seems to be “something for everyone.”
The season begins in September with Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel (Sept. 16-Oct. 11). The drama takes place in 1905, and is about an African-American seamstress named Esther, who creates exquisite lingerie for Fifth Avenue boudoirs as well as for Tenderloin bordellos. Two relationships become important for Esther: a courtship by mail with a West Indian man working on the Panama Canal, and a friendship with Mr. Marks, the Orthodox Jewish salesman with whom she has regular commerce. Race, class, religion: all figure importantly in this award-winning play by a writer who would later win a Pulitzer Prize (for Ruined).
Next comes The 39 Steps (Nov. 18-Dec. 13), adapted by Patrick Barlow from the book by John Buchan and the movie by Alfred Hitchcock. Jobsite Theater presented this show three years ago in a production which was not notably entertaining. Perhaps American Stage can do better: The challenge is for four actors to impersonate 150 characters, one of whom, Richard Hannay, finds himself pursued for a murder he didn’t commit. Will he clear his name and find the real killer? And will theaters ever get tired of plays in which a few actors portray a great many (see A Tale of Two Cities below for further comments on this trope)?
There’s more to hope for from Jitney (Jan. 20-Feb. 21), American Stage’s latest installment in August Wilson’s Century Cycle about African-American life in the U.S. Set in 1977 Pittsburgh, the drama brings us a makeshift, unlicensed taxi dispatch business that has served the black community for years. When the play opens, Becker, the jitney station owner, is preparing for his son to return home after serving a 20-year prison term for murder. The play is looser in construction that most of the others in the series, but with the right acting can be riveting. American Stage has done Wilson proud over the years, so there’s a good chance that this will be worthwhile.
And it’ll be followed by Amy Herzog’s 4000 Miles, which won the 2012 Obie for Best New Play, and is about the sort of quirky relationship that makes a play stand out from the usual crew of rocky romances and family cataclysms. In this case, the relationship is between 21-year-old Leo and his 91-year-old grandmother Vera. Over a month, the two infuriate, bewilder, and ultimately reach each other. Herzog’s one of the hottest playwrights around, and this play was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. You decide whether it should have won.
And speaking of winning, what could be a surer thing than 2016’s American Stage in the Park production of Monty Python’s Spamalot (April 13-May 8)? If you saw this at the Straz Center some years ago, you know that it’s hilarious, and surprisingly faithful to its model, the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Expect beautiful showgirls, hilarious dance numbers, flying cows, killer rabbits, and the Knights who say “Ni.” If Monty Python didn’t exist, the world would be a colder place. But it does, so it isn’t. Expect to laugh through the night.
And then we get to one of those money-saving productions that’s touted as a tour-de-force (which it may be), when it’s obviously been scheduled because it only features one paid actor. This time it’s A Tale of Two Cities, adapted by Everett Quinton from the novel by Charles Dickens. The story goes like this: an aspiring drag queen named Jerry opens his door and finds a baby left on his doorstep. In order to quell the baby’s crying, Jerry performs the entire narrative of Dickens’ classic, playing all the characters in that busy novel. (Does this sound vaguely familiar? See The 39 Steps above.)
Finally, American Stage presents the Tampa Bay area premiere of Lee Hall’s The Pitmen Painters, about a group of British miners who discover the art of painting and whose education in aesthetics leads them to consider some of the most fundamental questions artists anywhere have to confront. The play is based on a true story, was a big hit in Great Britain (where it won the 2008 Evening Standard Award for “Best Play”), and has been called Brechtian among other things. This looks like the biggest gamble of American Stage’s season, and for that reason is easily the most exciting prospect.
And that’s the season. For more info or to order tickets, call 727-823-PLAY or go to americanstage.org.
This article appears in Jan 15-21, 2015.