Ross Valley Players Announces 2013 - 2014 Season

ROSS VALLEY PLAYERS ANNOUNCES

2013 – 2014 SEASON

Pulitzer Prize, Tony nominees and winners among the selected plays for new season

ROSS VALLEY PLAYERS is pleased to announce their 2013 – 2014 season for their 84th consecutive year. Among the six plays included in the new season are Pulitzer Prize, and Tony nominees and winners, and a West Coast Premiere. From romantic comedy and gentle humor to compelling drama, the new season will have something for everyone. Ross Valley Players received an astounding 17 nominations, and won four awards from the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle for 2012. www.rossvalleyplayers.com

Season subscriptions are currently on sale and range in price from $115 for senior/student (with valid student ID) to $135 general admission, and include tickets to all six productions in the upcoming season at a 20% discount. For more information, or to purchase season tickets online visit www.rossvalleyplayers.com/tickets/season84 or call the box office at 415-456-9555, x 3.

The 2013 – 2014 season includes:

Chapter Two by Neil Simon

September 13 – October 13, 2013

Directed by James Nelson

Neil Simon’s semiautobiographical play matches George, a widowed New York novelist, and Jennie, a recently divorced actress, who are pushed together by his brother Leo and her libidinous married friend Faye. What follows is a seesaw courtship that provides love and laughs in this very human and ultimately touching comedy. Chapter Two was nominated for a

Tony as Best Play and received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award when it debuted in 1977.

Harvey by Mary Chase

November 15 – December 15, 2013

Directed by Robert Wilson

A classic show full of gentle humor for the whole family. Elwood has become a problem for his sister, embarrassing the family by insisting he has a friend named Harvey – a 6’3 ½” white rabbit – who accompanies him everywhere. She wants to have him committed to a rest home, but he and Harvey are having none of it. A delightful tribute to acceptance and non-conformity, this play debuted in 1945 and ran for 5 years on Broadway. It came back in a revival in 2012. Harvey was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Journey’s End by R. C. Sherriff – WEST COAST PREMIERE

January 17 – February 16, 2014

Directed by James Dunn

This powerful and moving drama will evoke echoes of scenes from television’s Downton Abbey and Parade’s End. Set in a dugout for British officers in the trenches during World War I, Journey’s End brings us together with men awaiting a major enemy attack and shows us how they cope. It provides a larger story of courage against tremendous odds, told with uncommon power that “consistently uplifts and inspires.” (Talking Broadway review) Journey’s End, originally produced in 1929 with a young Laurence Olivier in a leading role, has had several revivals in London as recently as 2012; and on Broadway in 2007, when it received 12 Tony nominations.

Arms and the Man by G. B. Shaw

March 14 - April 13, 2014

Directed by Cris Cassell

What kind of soldier sneaks behind enemy lines and into a lady’s boudoir armed with chocolates in place of cartridges? The kind that Shaw, in what was his first big hit, gives us in this comedy plot set in Bulgaria in 1895. With a sharp edge of satire, Arms and the Man pokes fun at both the dangers of bravado and the idealistic notions of romantic love. It’s an evening of great fun sparked by Shavian wit. “This play deserves to be seen more often.” (San Francisco Chronicle)

Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz

May 16 - June 15, 2014

Directed by Phoebe Moyer

Conservative and liberal generations clash in this richly enjoyable play for grown-ups. At a holiday gathering in Palm Springs the parents cling to Reaganesque social status, threatened by a daughter’s publication of a book focusing on politically explosive family secrets. Secrets, lies and betrayals challenge a carefully created surface of affluence and restraint.

Old Money by Wendy Wasserstein

July 18 - August 17, 2014

Directed by Kim Bromley

The setting is an ornate mansion in Manhattan at two dinner parties - one in the early 1900s, hosted by a robber baron; and the other, 100 years later, hosted by a contemporary master of high-risk arbitrage. In Old Money, Wasserstein deftly observes how social conventions, professional eminence and familial relationships have changed (little) and remained the same

(largely) for over a century. Curtain Up called the play an “adroitly constructed dual universe – clever and entertaining.” Presented at Lincoln Center in 2000, Old Money was one of

Wasserstein’s last and most mature plays.

RAW – Ross Alternative Works

Two Festivals of New Plays

October 18-27, 2013

April 18-27, 2014

Come see original, provocative, and exciting new works by Bay Area playwrights, presented in 2 festivals of imaginative, contemporary plays. After each matinee performance, participate in moderated discussions with the playwrights that encourage constructive feedback, criticism, and ideas that benefit writers and audience alike. Note: These productions are not part of the RVP Season Subscription.

Ross Valley Players, a non-profit arts organization, is the oldest continually operating community theater on the West Coast. Created in 1930 as a way to escape the hardships of the Depression, Ross Valley Players has introduced live theater to thousands of Marin residents over the years. Each year, RVP presents a regular season of six full productions, running a total of 30 weeks. RVP offers special events and short-term productions outside the regular season. Plays include recent Broadway material, popular plays, classic theater, and a selection of works by well-known playwrights from around the world. RVP features all genres: comedy, drama, mysteries, and musicals. Their Ross Alternative Works (RAW) program presents short run, minimal set productions of original scripts by Bay Area playwrights in two festivals each season.

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