The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park today announced the restart of its main stage season for October 2021.
The 2021-22 season will consist of eight shows and include world premieres from Keith Josef Adkins, Deborah Zoe Laufer and KJ Sanchez, who bring a spin-off story from their hit Cincinnati King to the Rosenthal Shelterhouse.
The season also features two new comedies; a well-known story of celebrating girlfriends; a solo exhibition about Dr. Ruth Westheimer; and the joyful return of the full production of the Playhouse’s annual holiday favorite, A Christmas Carol.
“Our community has shown immense generosity and support for the Playhouse throughout the pandemic,” says Art Director Blake Robison. “I’m especially proud to be restarting our main stage series with two world premieres that tell authentic Cincinnati stories.”
- A great American playwright and native of Cincinnati, Adkins was hired by the Playhouse to write about historic Cincinnati. His play The West End is set in 1941 and illuminates a transformative chapter in local history.
- Sanchez is a former Playhouse Associate Artist and a nationally known playwright and director. Her piece Cincinnati King had its world premiere in 2018 in the Rosenthal Shelterhouse. It was the culmination of years of interviews and research on Cincinnati’s historic King Records. Need Your Love expands the story of Little Willie John and includes hits from the King Records music catalog.
- The third world premiere of the season, Rooted by Laufer, was also commissioned by the Playhouse. In this quirky comedy, a withdrawn amateur botanist inadvertently turns into a New Age YouTube messiah. “Our audience loved Deb’s latest Playhouse world premiere, Be Here Now, and Rooted is bringing back some of the same characters and themes,” says Robison.
- A Christmas story will return with nearly 30 actors, elaborate costumes and exciting special effects. The other four shows scheduled for the 2021-22 season are:
- Incident in Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a new 1973 comedy directed by Katie Forgette about an Irish Catholic family.
- Schoolgirls: Or Jocelyn Bioh’s The African Mean Girls Play, a biting comedy about teenage girls.
- Robert Harling steel magnolias, the beloved story of celebrating girlfriends.
- Dr. Ruth will be accompanied by Mark St. Germain, a solo exhibition about sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer.
“The new season shows the breadth and diversity of the Playhouse, and we can’t wait to get back to producing a full live theater schedule for Cincinnati,” added Robison.
All 2021-22 productions with the exception of Need Your Love were previously announced as part of the canceled 2020-21 season. The Playhouse typically produces a total of 11 shows per season. The smaller line-up with eight shows is intended to enable a later start for the security of COVID-19 and an early end for the beginning of the last construction phase of the new theater complex on the main stage.
With COVID-19 health and safety guidelines not yet known for the fall, subscriptions and tickets for the Playhouse 2021-22 season will go on sale later. Current subscribers will receive renewals in the summer. Single tickets are expected to go on sale later in summer or early autumn.
For more information, visit cincyplay.com or call the box office at toll-free 513-421-3888 or 800-582-3208 in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Users who are deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, or speech impaired should dial 711 to connect to the box office through Ohio Relay Services. The playhouse is fully accessible.
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