As part of its eight-show mainstage season, Phoenix will co-present the rolling world premiere of Sharr White's Sunlight, in association with InterAct Theatre (Philadelphia, PA) and Marin Theatre Company (Mill Valley, CA). Three additional works will also be offered as part of the Frank and Katrina Basile black box lineup.
The Phoenix Theatre at a glance:
The Most Damaging Wound
By Blair Singer
Sept. 3-26
"Five college buddies reunite with the intention of getting very drunk and burning a box of memorabilia from their glory days. Kenny, the organizer, has just become a father and is terrified that he’s not ready for the job. His best friend Alan, who is married with a kid, brings his girlfriend to the festivities. Rounding out the quintet is GG, the up-tight outcast who owns the still-under-construction restaurant they meet in; Dicky, who never truly grew up; and his rock star friend Bo, who is struggling to get sober. The evening doesn’t go as planned, and the friends are left wondering if the past is ever as glorious as we remember."
Shipwrecked! An Entertainment, The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (As told by himself)
By Donald Margulies
Oct. 16-Nov. 15
"Be ready to be astonished! Louis de Rougemont is looking for his 15 minutes of fame. Gaining notoriety at the turn of the century for his fantastical tale of being shipwrecked on an exotic island, learning to ride sea turtles, and holding court with the Queen of England, Louis is finding his audience increasingly skeptical. Could his entire adventure be discredited as a hoax? De Rougemont's fervent desire to justify his life’s purpose provides the emotional current that transforms a ripping good yarn into a touching character study. After all, who doesn't need his 'dabbing a little spot of color on the drab canvas of life?'"
A Very Phoenix Xmas – Our Stockings Are Stuffed
Nov. 27-Dec. 20
"This wonderful holiday tradition is back with all-new material and a few returning chestnuts for your seasonal enjoyment. As always, there will be music (both traditional and I-can't-believe-they-did-that), dance, and original sketches. Nothing and no one is sacred in this grab bag of theatrical vaudeville and television variety show with all the irreverence of Monty Python. Sort of Saturday Night Live meets Donny and Marie on crack. It wouldn't be December without us!" The Housewives of Mannheim
By Alan Brody
Jan. 14-Feb. 6, 2010
"It's spring 1944 in May Black's middle-class Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, where she dishes the dirt with her two long-time friends. Wisecracking and streetwise Billie Friedhoff buys and sells on the black market, while Alice Cohen is a judgmental, self-appointed, moralist busybody. Into their lives comes Sophie. Worldly and sophisticated, she helps each woman discover something about themselves that their husbands never could. Out of necessity, the women flourish and are able to contemplate the freedoms that would only truly be available to generations of women yet to come."
Sunlight
By Sharr White
Feb. 25-March 20, 2010
"Matthew Gibbon, liberal lion and university president, may have finally gone too far in his battle against the conservative dean of the law school—his son-in-law and former protégé. Why would this respected academic leader, so close to retirement, tarnish his otherwise brilliant career by breaking the very laws that he has spent a lifetime defining? What begins as a political debate turns fiercely personal, potentially pitting his family against his legacy. What price is too high to pay for loyalty and power?"
Yankee Tavern
By Steven Dietz
April 8-May 1, 2010
"Alfred Hitchcock meets Oliver Stone in this fascinating and funny new play set in a dusty old New York City bar. Here, a charismatically cantankerous regular argues conspiracy theories with anyone who will listen. The young owner behind the bar just wants to pour beer, marry his fiancée, and live happily ever after. Then a stranger walks in and orders a drink for himself and his invisible buddy, setting off a thriller that grips you until the very last word. When the young man disappears, everyone gets caught up in 'what if' and tries to solve the mystery. Is it just cold feet or only the tip of a deadly iceberg?"
Speech and Debate
By Steven Karam
May 20-June 12, 2010
"Sex. Secrets. Performance-art video blogs with a George Michael beat. Just another typical day when you're a teenage outcast in Salem, Oregon. Solomon, Diwata, and Howie have never met, but when a shocking scandal involving one of their teachers brings them together through an unexpected chain of events, they realize three voices are stronger than one. Maybe starting their school's first speech and debate squad will be their chance to be heard at last — by the school and even by the world. In the process, each loner learns the value and power of being a friend."
Reasons To Be Pretty
By Neil LaBute
July 8-July 31, 2010
"Do we ever really know what our partner thinks of us? Reasons To Be Pretty confronts America's obsession with physical beauty headlong when Greg, a working-class guy in a long-term relationship, inadvertently remarks to a friend that, compared to a pretty coworker, his girlfriend is 'regular.' This inarticulate, off-hand statement changes everything. He loves her, but can she still love him? Their relationship cannot survive the monumental and unexpected fallout from this innocent slip of the tongue, and all four characters begin to experience insecurities in their own lives. Is anyone ever totally comfortable in their own skin?"
In addition to the main stage offerings, Phoenix will also present special performances of Dos Fallopia: Deja Poo: (dé·jà poo: The undeniably eerie feeling that you've seen this crap before…) (Oct. 1-4); Call Me BORICUA by Ricardo Melendez (Feb. 11-21, 2010); and Edmund White's Terre Haute (Aug. 5-8, 2010).
For tickets phone (317) 635-7529 or visit PhoenixTheatre.org. The Phoenix is located in Indianapolis' Chatham Arch neighborhood, part of the Mass Ave Arts & Theatre District.
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Founded in 1986, the Phoenix Theatre presents the Midwest and Indiana premieres of many popular Broadway and Off-Broadway plays, and has presented more than 70 world premieres in its quarter century.
