Texas State Black and Latino Playwrights Conference
Sept. 14 - 16

We received submissions from across the country for our 5th annual conference. The winning plays are rehearsed with the playwrights, culminating in staged readings.

Common Ground by Antoinette Winstead
Directed by Dean Irby
A powerful modern tragedy about sibling rivalry.

Before Death Comes for the Archibishop by Elaine Romero
Directed by Kenny Leon
The sweeping story of a Mexican priest's fight against the forces of Manifest Destiny.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Directed by Richard Sodders
Oct. 2 - 7

Oscar Wilde's comedic masterpiece satirizes English society in the late Victorian era.  The plot follows the exploits of two wealthy young men who pretend their names are Ernest in order to impress their beloveds.  One, Jack Worthing, is a foundling and cannot marry his love until he produces an acceptable parent.  His future mother-in-law, Lady Bracknell, tells him, "To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness."  Audiences have loved this play since it opened in 1895, and many critics consider it the wittiest play in the English language.
 
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A Chorus Line conceived by Michael Bennett
Book by James Kirkwood & Nicholas Dante
Music by Marvin Hamlisch, Lyrics by Edward Kelban
Directed by Robert Ball
Nov. 13 - 18

A Chorus Line explores the dreams and aspirations of dancers competing for 8 spots in the chorus of a new Broadway musical. Told through monologues and musical numbers the individual stories of the aspiring dancers range from the humorous to the heartbreaking as their inner lives are revealed. Winner of nine Tony Awards, A Chrous Line ran for nearly fifteen years on Broadway and remains a crowd-pleaser to this day.

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The Piano Lesson by August Wilson
Directed by Christine Menzes
Feb. 19 - 24

Set in the 1930s, The Piano Lesson focuses on African American siblings with competing agendas. Berniece clings to an ornately carved piano that holds the family history while her brother Boy Willie wants to sell the antique piano to buy the same Mississippi land that their family had worked as slaves. It is a powerful, emotionally charged drama that pits the mutually valid values of seeking present-day economic opportunity against honoring one’s family legacy. There are no easy answers in August Wilson’s haunting Pulitzer Prize winner.

This production of The Piano Lesson is supported by  the Texas State University Equity and Access Committee and by the Texas State University Parents Association.

www.txstate.edu/parents

Thank you to both organizations for your generosity and committment to higher education and the performing arts.

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The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht
Directed by Michael Costello
April 8 - 13

Based on an ancient Chinese story,  The Caucasian Chalk Circle is an epic tale of sacrifice and justice.  When war begins, Grusha, a kitchen maid, risks her own life to save the life of a noble child.  Escaping the city, where the child would certainly be murdered, she takes the infant with her on a perilous journey.  Her story and the story of Azdak, a drunken, irreverent judge who rules with judicial anarchy, merge in a trial that will determine the child’s true mother by the test of the chalk circle. In this play, Brecht uses eccentric characters to reveal the depths of human emotions and to craft scenes of uproarious humor.

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Backyard Story by Charles Pascoe
Directed by Charles Pascoe
April 22 - 27

A broad spectrum of human emotions and relationships are reflected in this play for families. Playing off the obstacle-to-love plot tradition, Backyard Story presents a wildly humorous and magnified look at bug life in a typical backyard. Each bug in the show speaks with a different accent and the villain, Voracious Vera, is a Russian bat.  Spider Spivak, along with the swashbuckling Errol Fly, execute a plan to capture the bat and, perhaps, save his daughter, Octavia, from a horrible fate. Backyard Story swept the major awards at the American College Theatre Festival in 1983, and in 1984 it represented the State of Texas at the International Children's Festival at Wolftrap Farm Park for the Performing Arts in Fairfax, Virginia.

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Studio Theatre Shows

Fuddy Meers by David Lindsay-Abaire
Directed by Eleisa Jordan
Oct. 18 - 22

This madcap comedy traces one woman’s attempt to regain her memory while surrounded by an increasingly strange array of characters. New York reviewers praised the play as “a dark, sweet, and thoroughly engaging comedy “ that is “zany, wicked fun.” For mature audiences.

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Suburbia by Eric Bogosian
Directed by Mandi Tapia
Oct. 25 - 28

Set outside a suburban convenience store, Bogosian’s contemporary classic seethes with the energy of youthful humor, anger, and angst as the setting’s small town mentality fuels a night of drinking and partying that leads toward violence, despair, and death. Critics called Suburbia one of “the best plays of the season” when it premiered at Lincoln Center. For mature audiences.

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Low in the Dark by Marina Carr
Directed Richie Wilcox
Jan. 31 - Feb. 2

A mother and daughter bicker over who has just given birth, and a man gets pregnant. These are a couple of the strange events that occur in this absurdist play by one of Ireland's leading playwrights as she explores the nuances of gender, language, and religion. For mature audiences.

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Directed by Debbie Swann
Feb. 7 - 10

When three sisters reunite after their mother’s death, they squabble over funeral arrangements, their failing romances, and their differing memories of their childhoods and mother. A mixture of dark comedy and drama, London critics hailed Stephenson’s play as “touching and hugely entertaining”, “a lovely piece full of humor and heart.” For mature audiences.

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