ATLANTIC STAGE 2012-2013 SEASON TICKETS NOW ON SALE

Atlantic Stage is the only non-profit, professional theatre in the Myrtle Beach area and have announced their fifth season of cultural offerings. To buy tickets, go to Atlantic Stage or call 1-877-ATS-TKTS (1-877-287-8587)

Below is a listing of the offerings this year:

GOD OF CARNAGE by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton running September 6-23, 2012

Winner of a 2009 Tony Award, the play is about two pairs of parents, one of whose child has hurt the other at a public park, who meet to discuss the matter in a civilized manner. However, as the evening goes on, the parents become increasingly childish, resulting in the evening devolving into chaos. Recommended for mature audiences only.

DURANG/DURANG: Two Plays by Christopher Durang  running November 8-25, 2012

Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You: The play revolves around a nun, Sister Mary Ignatius, explaining to the audience the basic tenets of Catholicism. She is assisted by her favorite student, seven-year-old Thomas. From time to time, she asks him catechism questions and gives him a cookie for every right answer. Half-way into her speech, some of her former students, now grown up, enter to perform a mock Christmas pageant from their childhood days and reveal to Sister Mary the deep psychological trauma her teachings left on them. Sister Mary’s unwavering dogma combined with the absurdist nature of the play adds elements of biting comedy.

The Actor’s Nightmare: This short comic play involves an accountant named George Spelvin who is mistaken for an actor’s understudy and forced to perform in a play for which he doesn’t know any of the lines.

HOLIDAY MEMORIES short stories by Truman Capote, adapted for the stage by Russell Vandenbroucke running  December 6-23, 2012

This largely autobiographical story, which takes place in the 1930s, describes a period in the lives of the seven-year-old narrator and an elderly woman who is his distant cousin and best friend. The evocative narrative focuses on country life, friendship, and the joy of giving during the Christmas season, and it also gently yet poignantly touches on loneliness and loss.

RABBIT HOLE by David Lindsay-Abaire running January 17- February 3, 2013

Winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize – Becca and Howie Corbett have everything a family could want, until a life-shattering accident turns their world upside down and leaves the couple drifting perilously apart. Rabbit Hole charts their bittersweet search for comfort in the darkest of places and for a path that will lead them back into the light of day. Recommended for mature audiences.

LEND ME A TENOR by Ken Ludwig running March 21- April 7, 2013

In 1934, the renowned tenor Tito Merelli is scheduled to sing the lead in Otello. Unfortunately, even before the star leaves his hotel room, everything begins to unravel. Chaos ensues when Merelli’s wife, who has mistaken an autograph-seeker hidden in his closet for a secret lover, leaves him a “Dear John” letter. The distraught Merelli accidentally is given a double dose of tranquilizers to calm him and passes out. Saunders, the company’s General Manager, is determined that the show will go on, so he asks his assistant Max to impersonate the opera star. Max puts on the blackface makeup required for the role of Otello, and his disguise succeeds admirably – until Merelli, also in blackface, wakes up and heads for the stage. What follows is a chain-reaction of mistaken identity, farcical plot twists, double entendres, innuendoes, and constant entrances and exits through many doors.

CHILD’S PLAY (WORLD PREMIERE) by Kevin D. Ferguson running April 25 – May 12, 2013

The favorite play from last year’s New Voices PlayFest will take the state for a World Premiere. Child’s Play tells the story of Vera, a child therapist who wonders if she is really doing the children she treats any good anymore. When confronted by Cindy, a ten-year old who has quit speaking to anyone, Vera struggles to peel away the layers of the girl’s mistrust and enter Cindy’s world to uncover the secrets behind her silence. Recommended for mature audiences.

The season will also include a Second Annual New Voices Play Fest in the spring of 2013 (Special Event: April 18-21, 2013) which will include local and new works by emerging playwrights.