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Timeline Theatre, the company dedicated to producing plays both deeply intertwined with history and connected to current social and political issues, is giving you the chance to be transported over four centuries with their 10th Anniversary season that they have just announced. According to Timeline Theatre, the stories unfold in wildly varying historical contexts. Yet they all illuminate themes that transcend time and resonate strongly in our lives today.
The 2006-2007 season will include:
THE GENERAL FROM AMERICA
by Richard Nelson | Chicago Premiere
directed by Louis Contey | August 26 - October 8, 2006
Tony Award-winning playwright Richard Nelson's powerful drama about the early, uncertain birth of America introduces us to the new country's most notorious traitor, General Benedict Arnold. Betraying his reputation as a Revolutionary War hero, Arnold makes an uncharacteristic decision to defect to the British and surrender West Point, a plot that threatens to derail the war. What caused this founding father to betray his fellow colonists? The General from America delves into the complex story of one man's life, his honor, and the stunning choice that would make him famous. TimeLine Associate Artist Louis Contey (Copenhagen, Awake and Sing!) directs this Chicago premiere.
THE CHILDREN'S HOUR
by Lillian Hellman | directed by Nick Bowling
November 4 - December 17, 2006
Inspired by a 19th-century legal case, Lillian Hellman's landmark drama premiered in 1934 to great acclaim amid tremendous controversy - the play was initially banned in several major cities and the Pulitzer committee refused to attend. When an angry student accuses two female boarding school teachers of having an affair, the results are devastating. As their lives fall apart, the women struggle to clear their stained reputations amidst a flurry of attacks and questions about the basis of the allegations. TimeLine Company member Nick Bowling (The Crucible, This Happy Breed, Fiorello!) directs.
HARMLESS
by Brett Nevue | World Premiere
directed by Edward Sobel | January 20 - March 4, 2007
One of the most acclaimed playwrights to emerge in Chicago in the last decade, Brett Neveu has a reputation reputation for blistering dialogue, complex characters and haunting stories. With Harmless, he writes about a crisis unfolding on a small Midwestern college campus. When a professor encourages free artistic expression in a creative writing class, a student responds with a graphic story about his military service in Iraq. Uncertain whether the story is based in fact or fiction, the college administration considers if the student is a danger to others and whether the professor provoked him in the name of artistic expression. This intense three-character play asks if the college administration can simply look the other way and examines the military's role in helping the young veteran readjust to civilian life. Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Director of New Play Development Edward Sobel (A Man for All Seasons) directs this world premiere production.
WIDOWERS' HOUSES
by George Bernard Shaw | directed by Kevin Fox
May 5 - June 17, 2007
Shaw's first play is a hilarious yet scathing look at the ethics of making money. When a young doctor learns that his future father-in-law has earned his wealth by renting slum housing to the poor, the doctor refuses the dirty dowry that awaits him. But he must reconsider his righteous stance when he discovers alarming news about the source of his own income. Written and set in 1892, Widowers' Houses established Shaw's talent for presenting a feast of social and political ideas delivered with humorous dialogue and colorful characters - a talent that secured his reputation as one of the wittiest and most widely produced writers of his generation. Kevin Fox (Precious Mettle Theater Company's Buicks) directs at TimeLine for the first time.