Fresh off Broadway, Kenneth Lonergan’s This is Our Youth will open Custom Made Theatre’s 2015-16 season in San Francisco.
Organizers today revealed the entire line-up, and said plays will be performed at Custom’s new theater space.
Artistic Director Brian Katz says, “we are thrilled about our 17th season, especially since it will open our new 99-seat home at 533 Sutter St. where we’ve enjoyed so many productions from SF Playhouse and Tides Theatre.”
Per the announcement the “eclectic” season includes a San Francisco premiere from acclaimed playwright Will Eno (Thom Pain: Based on Nothing), a revival of a John Guare classic, two world premieres (one that was commissioned by CMTC) and the regional premiere of an up-and-coming female Indian-American playwright whom Custom Made expects will be a household name before too long.
MORE STARK INSIDER THEATER: Broadway Backstage: ‘Matilda the Musical’ at SHN Orpheum (Video)
Now heading into its 18th season, Custom Made Theatre has developed and produced several new works for Bay Area audiences. World premieres this season include Of Serpents and Sea Spray by Bay Area playwright Rachel Bublitz and the first reading of Sam and Dede, or My Dinner with Andre the Giant by Gino DiIorio.
Tickets start at $99 for six shows. See below for complete season line-up.
Let the show begin…
Custom Made Theatre 2015-16 Season
This is Our Youth
By Kenneth Lonergan
Sept. 18 – Oct. 17
Just seen on Broadway with Michael Cera, This is Our Youth follows forty-eight hours in the lives of three very lost young souls. By turns caustic, cruel and compassionate, it is the real world. The New York Times said “it’s sheer relief to celebrate…a rambunctious and witty play about wayward post-adolescents that doesn’t turn youthful travails into plastic wrap.” The Tony-nominated play with be directed by Custom Made artistic director, Brian Katz.
In Love and Warcraft
By Madhuri Shekar
Regional Premiere
Nov. 12 – Dec. 12
Evie is a smart, socially awkward English major who has never had sex and doesn’t want to. Despite — or perhaps because of — her virginal status, Evie earns money, Cyrano-like, by writing online love correspondence for her less articulate peers. Oh, and she’s also one of the best World of Warcraft players in the world, leading a guild with her online boyfriend, and helping everyone “stay out of the fire.” But when Evie meets a guy who really curls her toes IRL (in real life) can she beat the final Boss: herself? Directed by James Nelson.
Of Serpents and Sea Spray
By Rachel Bublitz
World Premiere
Jan. 7 – 23, 2016
A CMTC commission written by emerging Bay Area playwright Rachel Bublitz, Of Serpents and Sea Spray tells the story of an orphan named Iro who is the subject of ridicule by other children and punishment by uncaring foster parents. During one of her many tours through solitary confinement in the closet, Iro’s imagination brings her with a mission: find Pegasus. On her quest, she has many adventures… and along the way finds the truth about the death of her parents. Directed by Ariel Craft.
Sam and Dede, or My Dinner with Andre the Giant
By Gino DiIorio
World Premiere
Feb. 11 – Mar. 5, 2016
It’s a totally true story: 12-year old Andre the Giant, already over 6 feet tall and 240 pounds, didn’t fit on the school bus. Andre’s neighbor, as repayment of a favor, offered to drive Andre to school in his truck. The neighbor was Samuel Beckett. “Sam and Dede, or My Dinner with Andre the Giant,” imagines a series of scenes between a giant – a man who cannot hide, and a writer obsessed with silence. Dilorio fashions a world as absurd as a Beckett play itself. A finalist for the 12th Annual National Showcase of New Plays in 2013. Directed by Custom Made executive director, Leah S. Abrams
Middletown
By Will Eno
San Francisco Premiere
Mar. 24 – Apr. 23, 2016
An absurdist with the comic sensibilities of Jon Stewart, Eno’s take on Our Town is a modern, funny, and dark look at what lies below the surface of our contained, sanitized communities. Eno follows the lives of the inhabitants of Middletown as they intersect in strange and poignant ways. It is a wry, human portrait of a town with two lives, one ordinary and visible, the other epic and mysterious. Eno is an Edward F. Albee Foundation Fellow, and Pulitzer Prize finalist. Directed by Brian Katz
Six Degrees of Separation
By John Guare
May 19 – Jun 18, 2016
Inspired by a true story, this comic, fast-paced and affecting piece follows the trail of a young African-American con man who insinuates himself into the lives of a wealthy, white New York couple, claiming he is the son of actor Sidney Poitier, and that he has just been mugged and all his money is gone. Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Drama. Directed by Stuart Bousel.
