The Dallas Theatre Center has launched its 1997-98 season with Alan Ayckbourn's Intimate Exchanges. This season's highlight is The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, written by Michael Ondaatje, whose The English Patient won the 1997 Best Picture Academy Award.
The Collected Works of Billy the Kid depicts the legendary Western outlaw's final confrontation of his past, his gang, the men he killed, and the women he loved, before the final showdown with Pat Garrett. Ondaatje uses this play to strike down the highly romanticized myths surrounding the Kid and his life.
The rest of the 1997-1998 season:
* Intimate Exchanges by Alan Ayckbourn, Sept. 10 - Oct. 5
* The Collected Works of Billy the Kid by Michael Ondaatje, Oct. 22 - Nov. 16
* A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, adapted by Gerald Freedman, Nov. 29 - Dec. 28
* An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde, Jan. 14 - Feb. 8
* Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neill, Feb. 25 - Mar. 22
* Having Our Say by Emily Mann, April 1-26
In Intimate Exchanges, a comedy of manners, two middle-aged couples are faced with some difficult choices. The decisions they make alter the outcome of the play. One set of characters performs two different versions of their lives, depending on whether or not a cigarette is lighted. After The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, A Christmas Carol will take the stage. For the 14th year the holiday classic will play at the Dallas Theatre Company, bringing festive dancing, beautiful carols, and "spectacular special effects" to the stage.
Wilde'sAn Ideal Husband, follows Sir Robert Chiltern's rise to statesman and his being blackmailed. Chiltern's wife must become the perfect political wife to help Chiltern remain the "ideal husband" saving their marriage and her husband's career.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning Long Day's Journey Into Night is O'Neill's autobiographical drama of one day in the lives of the Tyrone family. In that one day old grievances resurface and the bonds of family are tested.
The last play of the season, Having Our Say, shows two African American sisters who take the audience on an opinionated tour through the 100 years of their lives. For tickets or more information: (214) 522 TIXX.
-- By Honey Freilich
