The Catastrophic Theatre Announces 2019-2020 Season
19-20 Season Announcement Press Release
Contact:
Shayna Schlosberg
Managing Director
Shayna.schlosberg@catastrophictheatre.com
713-522-2723×3
The Catastrophic Theatre Announces 2019-2020 Season
Catastrophic’s new season features a reinforced commitment to advancing daring women playwrights, both established and emerging
Houston, TX- The Catastrophic Theatre is proud to announce its 13th season of championing avant-garde plays and playwrights rarely produced in Houston. Co-Artistic Director Jason Nodler says, “This is our most meticulously planned season in decades and it has just about everything in it: a return to legendary American playwrights Suzan-Lori Parks, Maria Irene Fornes, and Will Eno; the first Houston production of a play by the remarkable Clare Barron who is not so much emerging as exploding; and a brand spanking new musical from Houston theatre icon and Catastrophic co-artistic director Tamarie Cooper. Five amazing plays and every single performance is Pay-What-You-Can. What’s not to love?”
THE CATASTROPHIC THEATRE 2019-2020 SEASON
TRAGEDY, A TRAGEDY a comedy by WILL ENO
September 27-October 20, 2019
“It’s the worst world in the world here tonight, Frank.”
Reporting live on an unfolding crisis, Frank in the Studio is aided by his team of field reporters: John in the Field, Constance at the Home, and Michael, the Legal Adviser. As the impending event approaches and chaos builds, the broadcasters reveal themselves to be all too human. In an era during which many have come to question the veracity of the news media, Catastrophic favorite Will Eno hilariously transcends fact-and-fiction in search of universal truths about the world we live in.
BABY SCREAMS MIRACLE by CLARE BARRON
November 22-December 15, 2019
“The weather has been bad since the beginning of time.”
With BABY SCREAMS MIRACLE, The Catastrophic Theatre introduces Houston audiences to one of the most exciting young playwrights in American theatre, Clare Barron. A catastrophic storm engulfs the home of a small, religious family. An estranged daughter blows in with the storm and between falling trees and flying trampolines, the family clings to prayer and forgiveness. Called “a genuinely fragile, complex piece of work,” (Time Out New York) BABY SCREAMS MIRACLE is a funny, moving tale of faith and survival.
THE BOOK OF GRACE by SUZAN-LORI PARKS
February 14-March 8, 2020
“Sometimes the Alien is right in your own home. Sometimes right in your own blood. And you’ve got to build a wall around it.”
Grace is a waitress who lives in a small border town in south Texas with her husband Vet, a border patrol agent. She encourages Vet’s troubled son Buddy to return home and reunite with his father in time for a celebration honoring Vet’s service. What ensues is a battle for power, revenge, and release from past traumas. In THE BOOK OF GRACE, Pulitzer-prize winning playwright, Suzan-Lori Parks, explodes the American family portrait to expose the borders and fences destroying the American home and by extension, the country.
FEFU AND HER FRIENDS by MARIA IRENE FORNES
April 3-April 26, 2020
“Life is theatre. Theatre is life. If we’re showing what life is, can be, we must do theatre.”
A signature work of feminist theatre by a giant of the avant-garde. Set in the 1930s, a group of eight women gather at the country home of their brilliant and eccentric friend, Fefu. As multiple conflicts unfold between the old friends, the women struggle to define who they are and what it means to be a woman in a patriarchal society. Though written in the 1970s, FEFU AND HER FRIENDS raises questions and anxieties around gender and identity that endure today. The play features an all-female cast of Houston’s most powerful actors.
TAMARIE 20/20 by TAMARIE COOPER AND FRIENDS
June 25-August 9, 2020
After a 2019 hiatus, Tamarie and her merry band of misfits are back again with an all-new, ridiculous, riotous musical! Escape the summer heat with Tamarie as she dives deep into TAMARIE 20/20. So what the hell is the title about? Is it a riff on a long running investigative television news show? A political campaign slogan? The unlikely results of Tamarie’s most recent eye exam? Yes! Tamarie’s seeing things and she wants YOU to be a witness. Visions of her past, her future, her next meal, motherhood, marriage, and sex are all filtered through Tamarie’s twisted, musical-theatre loving brain. With the help of longtime writing partner, Patrick Reynolds and Best Man, Kyle Sturdivant, Tamarie’s 22nd original summer musical is coming into focus with a live band, a cast of Houston’s wildest performers, and the Grand Dame herself, Tamarie Cooper.
TICKET AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
Season Tickets can be ordered online (catastrophictheatre.com or matchouston.org ) or by phone (713-521-4533). Subscribers can purchase a 5 – play package containing TRAGEDY, A TRAGEDY, BABY SCREAMS MIRACLE, THE BOOK OF GRACE, FEFU AND HER FRIENDS, and TAMARIE 20/20; prices range from $210-$250. All subscribers receive parking passes, reserved seating, and advance notice of special Catastrophic events.
All single tickets are Pay-What-You-Can. Suggested ticket price is $40.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Facebook: @TheCatastrophicTheatre
Twitter: @catastrophicTX
Instagram: @catastrophictheatre
ABOUT THE CATASTROPHIC THEATRE
Formed in 2007 by Jason Nodler and Tamarie Cooper, The Catastrophic Theatre is Houston’s premier creator and producer of new work for the theatre. The nationally acclaimed organization is dedicated to developing productions that foster a meaningful exchange between artists and audiences. A recipient of two prestigious MAP Fund commissioning grants, the theatre has gained an international reputation for its original pieces, which have attracted audiences from across the United States, Europe, and Australia. Awarded Best Season, Best Actor, and Best Artistic Director by the Houston Press Theatre Awards in 2017, The Catastrophic Theatre offers Houston audiences a repertoire of challenging, innovative work that can’t be seen anywhere else in the country.
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