The company's 40th anniversary season will also present Kimber Lee's brownsville song (b-side for tray). A final mainstage production will be announced at a later date.
"We are so excited to be presenting these quintessentially PTC works — inspiring, smart, and entertaining plays that celebrate our 40th Anniversary — a charming new play by one of America's most outstanding and revered playwrights, a play of unusual depth and intimacy by a promising young writer, and a delightfully fun new musical," producing executive director Sara Garonzik said in a statement. "They represent everything we continue to bring to the city's cultural fabric — home for some of today's most celebrated writers, a forum to present important, contemporary themes and a haven to support new writers."
The season kicks off with Detroit, by Lisa D'Amour. Here's how the production is billed: "Somewhere in the suburbs, Ben and Mary welcome into their lives the transient couple who've moved into the deserted house next door. As this foursome bonds over backyard barbecues, their fragile neighborly connection threatens to unravel and change them forever. Shining both a disturbing and bracingly funny spotlight on our country's middle class, Detroit exposes the raw nerves that live just beneath the surface in the pursuit of the American dream."
John Patrick Shanley's Tony-nominated romance Outside Mullingar follows. "Anthony and Rosemary are two introverted misfits straddling 40," press notes state. "Anthony has spent his entire life on a cattle farm in rural Ireland, a state of affairs that suits him well. Rosemary lives right next door, determined to have him and watching the years slip away. With Anthony's father threatening to disinherit him and a land feud simmering between their families, Rosemary has every reason to fear romantic catastrophe. But then, in this very Irish story with a surprising depth of poetic passion, these yearning, eccentric souls fight their way towards solid ground and happiness."
"brownsville song (b-side for tray) is a fictional story inspired by a true account of a promising young boxer killed in a random act of violence in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn," press notes state. "Tray is only 18 when his life, dreams and aspirations are ended by an act of senseless violence, leaving his family to grapple with the weight of his absence. In brownsville song, Tray's loved ones stumble through loss, find each other, and fight their way toward hope. The play is a heartfelt eulogy for Tray and other forgotten victims of violent crime have come to be regarded as mere statistics. brownsville song will be presented as a co-production with Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut." The season closes with the musical stage whodunit, Murder For Two by Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair. Here's how the production is described: "The hilarious homage to old-fashioned murder mysteries features two performers playing thirteen roles — and the piano. Officer Marcus Moscowicz is a small town policeman with big detective ambitions, must solve the murder of the Great American Novelist Arthur Whitney, shot at his surprise birthday party. The suspects, all party guests, including Dahlia Whitney, Arthur's scene-stealing wife, Barrette Lewis, the prima ballerina, the overly-friendly psychiatrist Dr. Griff, and the nosy neighboring couple, all seem to have a motive. This killer musical comedy combines the investigative mind of Agatha Christie with the make-'em-laugh spirit of vaudeville to produce a delicious, slapsticky detective farce."
Call (215) 735-7356 or visit philadelphiatheatrecompany.org for more information.
