Highlights from Theatre In The Park's 2006/2007 season

American Daughter (September 15 - 24, 2006)
Written by Wendy Wasserstein
Directed by Shawn Stewart-Larson

Set in Washington, D.C., An American Daughter focuses on Dr. Lyssa Dent Hughes, a health care expert and daughter of a long-time Senator. When the President nominates Lyssa to be Surgeon General, a trivial event from her past is discovered. The media turns it into a scandal which imperils her confirmation and divides her family and friends. Lyssa is forced to make a decision: continue to pursue the post and face an ugly Senate hearing; or decline the nomination, becoming a sacrificial lamb for the President. Partisan politics in the American nation’s capital, however, are nothing compared to the personal politics in Lyssa’s living room, where complicated relationships unravel with her father, husband, and her best girl-friend—not to mention the awkward encounters she has with an exuberant, neo-feminist author, and a relentless TV journalist.

The Man In The Desert (February 16 - 25, 2007)
by Peter Colley

Directed by Michael Lilly

 

The Man in the Desert is the story of what happened to Lawrence after Arabia, a story even stranger than the events shown in the famous film. This semi-fictional story was inspired by a series of real events. It is now the 1930’s—many years after Lawrence’s heroics in the desert—and Lawrence is serving as the lowly Aircraftman Shaw at a Royal Air Force base in Basrah, Iraq. He is visited by Charlotte Shaw (George Bernard Shaw’s wife) who tries to lure Lawrence back to the "real world" where his fame could do much to promote causes she and GBS held dear—particularly the re-shaping of the middle east. Lawrence, wracked with guilt, is determined to live out his life in monk-like penance in the lower ranks. Charlotte realizes that she must force him to confront his past so he can free himself of the demons that are paralyzing him. The playwright’s father served in the Royal Air Force with Lawrence, who he only knew as Aircraftman Shaw until his true identity slipped out.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (April 20-29, 2007)
by Edward Albee

Directed by Ira David Wood III

George, a professor at a small college, and his wife, Martha, have just returned home, drunk from a Saturday night party. Martha announces, amidst general profanity, that she has invited a young couple—an opportunistic new professor at the college and his shatteringly naïve new bride—to stop by for a nightcap. When they arrive the charade begins. The drinks flow and suddenly inhibitions melt. It becomes clear that Martha is determined to seduce the young professor, and George couldn’t care less. But underneath the edgy banter, which is crossfired between both couples, lurks an undercurrent of tragedy and despair. George and Martha’s inhuman bitterness toward one another is provoked by the enormous personal sadness that they have pledged to keep to themselves: a secret that has seemingly been the foundation for their relationship. In the end, the mystery in which the distressed George and Martha have taken refuge is exposed, once and for all revealing the degrading mess they have made of their lives.

 

GREATER TUNA (June 1-10, 2007)
by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears & Ed Howard

Directed by Ira David Wood III

Greater Tuna is the side-splitting comedy about the third smallest town in Texas, where the Lion’s Club is too liberal and Patsy Cline never dies. The eclectic band of citizens that make up this town are portrayed by only two performers, making this satire on rural American life even more delightful. It’s guaranteed to be a rompin’, stompin’ good time.