The Northeastern Theatre Ensemble, one of two Equity-affiliated resident theatre companies in Scranton, PA, opens its 1999-2000 season with Douglas Carter Beane's As Bees in Honey Drown Oct. 21.

Guest director Laura Henry, of Los Angeles, stages the Off-Broadway hit about an extravagant society diva and the young writer who falls under her spell. The company includes Andrea Gallo as Alexa and Michael Sargent as Evan, with Mitch Poulof, Shauna Hurley, Alexis Alena and Stephen Pauley.

Designers are Melissa-Anne Blizzard (costumes), Sebastien Grouard (sets and lighting) and Jamie Kurtz (sound).

Performances continue to Oct. 31.

The company plays in a 99-seat flexible space, the Shopland Theatre, in the Scranton Cultural Center, a former Masonic Temple. TNT executive director Elizabeth Feller-Markowitz told Playbill On-Line the shows draw crowds from Wilkes-Barre, the Poconos, Scranton and Northeastern Pennsylvania, thus the "Northeastern" name.

Artistic director Donna Kaz, new to the company this season, said there will be a focus on staging new works and works by recent contemporary playwrights, although the company has always tried to stage works other than mysteries, comedies and other staples of more conservative regional theatres.

Single tickets range $6-$16.

For ticket information, call (888) 669-8966. For TNT information, call (570) 969-1770.

Later in the season, TNT will offer the world premiere of Joan, a "wild romp through the history of France, medieval weaponry and the trial of the famous Maid of Orleans," by Kaz.

The new work is a theatricalization of Joan of Arc's world, acted by six young performers. Kaz, a New Yorker, is artistic associate at the York Theatre Company in Manhattan.

Joan plays Feb. 3-13, 2000, followed by Donald Margulies' Collected Stories (April 6-16, 2000).

Scranton's other company with an Equity affiliation is the Pennsylvania Summer Theatre Festival.

-- By Kenneth Jones