CINCINNATI: The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park has announced its 2021-22 season with world premieres from Keith Josef Adkins, Deborah Zoe Laufer and KJ Sanchez.
“Our community has shown immense generosity and support for the Playhouse throughout the pandemic,” said Art Director Blake Robison in a statement. “I’m especially proud to be restarting our main stage series with two world premieres that tell authentic Cincinnati stories.”
The Marx Theater season kicks off with the world premiere of The West End (October 9th – November 7th) by Keith Josef Adkins. Set in Cincinnati in 1941, the play follows Grace, who hosts African-Americans from the deep south and German residents who face growing hostility due to World War II when a stranger arrives and forces them to face their secret past. The Playhouse-associated artist Nicole A. Watson will direct.
Next up is the return of Dickens’ Christmas classic A Christmas Carol (November 24th – December 30th), directed by Michael Evan Haney.
The season continues with Katie Forgette’s Incident on Our Lady of Perpetual Help (January 29 – February 27, 2022) following Linda O’Shea as she recounts the most turbulent day of her life, when a series of mishaps puts her center at risk Reputation of the Irish Catholic Family. This comedy is directed by Blake Robison.
Next up is Steel Magnolias (March 19 – April 17, 2022) by Robert Harling, who explores the connections between a close-knit group of six Louisiana women who gather regularly to socialize, dine, and offer advice. Laura Gordon will direct.
The Marx Theater season ends with Jocelyn Bioh’s schoolgirls. Or the African Mean Girls Play (April 30 – May 22, 2022), which takes place in an exclusive boarding school in Ghana, where a new transfer from America is throwing the life of the school’s queen bee into chaos. Candis C. Jones will direct.
Meanwhile, the season will open on the stage of the Rosenthal Shelterhouse Theater with the world premiere of Need Your Love (October 30th – December 12th), written and directed by KJ Sanchez. Sanchez, creator of Cincinnati King, tells the story of the life of King Records star Little Willie John.
Next up is the world premiere of Rooted (February 12 – March 20, 2022) by Deborah Zoe Laufer. Noah Himmelstein will direct this play about Emery Harris, who has lived alone in a tree house for over a decade. The only connection to the outside world is through her YouTube channel until strangers gather near her home to tell her that she was inadvertently chosen as the New Age messiah of her followers.
The season ends with Mark St. Germains becoming Dr. Ruth (April 9 – May 15, 2022), a solo exhibition about the life behind America’s most popular sex therapist from the 1980s and 1990s.
Founded in 1959, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park is a professional regional theater dedicated to producing and presenting the widest range of theater options to a wide audience in an inviting theater environment.
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