The Ringgold Playhouse, located inside the historic Ringgold Depot, will kick off its four-production 2016 Season in January. Auditions for the first production will be held Nov. 9 and 10.
photo by TRP
Less than a week after closing its 2015 Season with a seven-show production of the classic drama “A Streetcar Named Desire,” the Ringgold Playhouse has revealed its plans for its 2016 season.
TRP announced the upcoming season Thursday morning and the four-production lineup is filled with plenty of laughs, intrigue and great stories, said officials.
“We had an amazing 2015 season, and we just want to keep the momentum going,” said Adam Cook, TRP’s executive director. “Our company really produced some fine work in 2015 with “Proof,” “Streetcar,” and others, but we’re excited to see what our local actors and directors can do with the great material we have in place for next season.”
TRP will kick off the season in January with the side-splitting Larry Shue comedy, “The Nerd,” followed by one of Mr. Cook’s own dramatic works, “The Storm.” The critically acclaimed farce “Noises Off,” by Michael Frayn, will follow in the company’s June summer slot, and the season will be rounded out by the Tennessee Williams’ classic “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof” in August.
"There’s a lot to look forward too,” said Mr. Cook. “We try to keep a good balance of material out there four our audiences, and we think they’re really going to enjoy coming to the historic Depot in 2016.”
“The Nerd”
Larry Shue’s “The Nerd” is a story about an aspiring young architect in Terre Haute, Ind., named Willum Cubbert. Willum has often told his friends about the debt he owes to Rick Steadman, a fellow ex-GI whom he has never met, but who saved his life after he was seriously wounded in Vietnam. He has written to Rick to say that, as long as he is alive, “you will have somebody on Earth who will do anything for you.” So, Willum is delighted when Rick shows up unexpectedly at his apartment on the night of his 34th birthday party. But his delight soon fades as it becomes apparent that Rick is a hopeless “nerd.” He’s a bumbling oaf with no social sense, little intelligence and even less tact. Rick stays on and on, his continued presence between Willum and his friends leading to one uproarious incident after another, until the normally placid Willum finds himself contemplating violence. A well-crafted story with dire developments, audiences will be surprised by the endearing “twist” ending of the play.
The show will run Jan. 18, 19, 20, 28, 29 and 30, with auditions being held Nov. 9 and 10.
"The Storm"
“The Storm,” by Adam Cook, is a heartfelt mysterious drama that’ll run March 24, 25, 26, 31 and April 1 and 2. Thomas, an elderly man struggling to care for his ailing love in the twilight of her life, is tempered and aided by a mysterious ghost, named Vincent, who helps him cope with his pending loss. As Thomas wrestles with pleas from friends and family to turn care of his beloved Helen over to hospice, he decides to take a journey with Vincent to rediscover the life he and his wife built together. By showing him glimpses of his past, Vincent is able to teach Thomas about life, love, and loss amidst a brewing emotional storm that eventually comes for us all.
Auditions for the show will be held Jan. 18 and 19.
“Noises Off”
Michael Frayn’s “Noises Off” is one of the funniest shows ever written. The action follows a theatre company preparing to open a show, at which time everything begins falling apart. The story presents a manic menagerie as a cast of itinerant actors rehearse a for-sure flop called “Nothing's On.” Doors slamming, on and offstage intrigue, and an errant herring all figure into the plot of this hilarious and classically comic play.
The show will run in TRP’s summer slot of June 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25. Auditions for the show will be held April 11 and 12.
“Cat On A Hot Tin Roof”
“Cat On A Hot Tin Roof” by Tennessee Williams is a true classic of American theatre. In a plantation house, a family celebrates the 65th birthday of Big Daddy, as they sentimentally dub him. The mood is somber, despite the festivities, because a number of evils poison the gaiety: greed, sins of the past and desperate, clawing hopes for the future spar with one another as the knowledge that Big Daddy is dying slowly makes the rounds. Maggie, Big Daddy's daughter-in-law, wants to give him the news that she's finally become pregnant by Big Daddy's favorite son, Brick, but Brick won't cooperate in Maggie's plans and prefers to stay in a mild alcoholic haze the entire length of his visit. Maggie has her own interests at heart in wanting to become pregnant, of course, but she also wants to make amends to Brick for an error in judgment that nearly cost her marriage. Swarming around Maggie and Brick are their intrusive, conniving relatives, all eager to see Maggie put in her place and Brick tumbled from his position of most-beloved son. By evening's end, Maggie's ingenuity, fortitude and passion will set things right, and Brick's love for his father, never before expressed, will retrieve him from his path of destruction and return him, helplessly, to Maggie's loving arms.
The show will run Aug. 18, 19, 20, 25, 26 and 27, with auditions to be held June 13 and 14.
“It’s really going to be a special season,” Mr. Cook said. “Actors and audience members have been asking us for weeks about what we’d be looking to produce after ‘Streetcar,’ and we think this lineup will interest everyone involved, or anyone who supports our theatre.”
All the directorial assignments have not been decided yet, but TRP veteran Ronald King will helm “The Nerd” to begin the season.
Mr. King has acted in four shows with the company, most recently garnering a lot of praise for his performance as “Mitch” in “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
Now in the company’s offseason, TRP will hold the balloting for its annual season awards between Oct. 1-31, before the winners are revealed at the Nov. 19 banquet.
“In under three years, this theatre company has really taken off and has been received so well by our community,” Mr. Cook said. “We just want to keep setting the bar higher and higher, and producing extraordinary work that our audiences appreciate. We’ve earned the trust of the theatre crowds around us, and we want to do our best to keep that trust. We’re going to give the best effort possible to keep our show quality as high as it can be.”
For more information about TRP or the history of the theatre, visit cityofringgold.com.