Almost, Maine

by John Cariani
directed by Glen Gourley

October 20, 21 & 22, 2011
7:30 pm, Fine Arts Theatre
Hyman Fine Arts Center
Francis Marion University

THE STORY:

On a cold, clear, moonless night in the middle of winter, all is not quite what it seems in the remote, mythical town of Almost, Maine. As the northern lights hover in the star-filled sky above, Almost’s residents find themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected and often hilarious ways. Knees are bruised. Hearts are broken. But the bruises heal, and the hearts mend—almost—in this delightful midwinter night’s dream.

“…a whimsical approach to the joys and perils of romance. Magical happenings bloom beneath the snowdrifts.” — NY Times.

“A charmer… Unexpected magic lingers in the air like someone’s breath on a cold winter’s night. John Cariani aims for the heart by way of the funny bone.” — Star-Ledger.

“Utterly endearing…It’s hard not to warm up to ALMOST, MAINE. A crowd-pleaser.” — Broadway.com.

“Sweet, poignant and witty.” — NY Daily News.

“A snowy charmer…These nine tales of love in the time of frostbite have a winning glow that proves surprisingly contagious.” — NY Sun.

Back Back Back

by Itamar Moses
directed by Keith Best

February 20-25, 2012
7:30 pm, Performing Arts Center
Dargan Street, Downtown Florence

THE STORY:
Before headlines blazed, before the Mitchell Report and ESPN lit up millions of television screens with the scandals, before congressional jaws dropped, comes the story of three guys making their way in the world of professional baseball – a world too competitive to rely solely on raw talent.

This explosive play from the acclaimed writer of The Four of Us and Bach at Leipzig takes you behind the headlines into the locker room to witness an even more gripping confrontation you didn’t see on TV, as these teammates face each other and do battle – for their careers, their legacies, and the future of America’s favorite pastime.

Back Back Back was winner of the Edgerton Foundation 2008 New American Plays Award.

“FIVE STARS. NO ONE PLAYS KING OF THE HILL MORE CRAFTILY THAN ITAMAR MOSES. TAUT, BEAUTIFULLY MODULATED, AND RIVETING, WITH THE BEWILDERING FORCE OF A CURVEBALL PITCH.”– Time Out New York

“A riveting spectacle of idolized figures who taint their sport through their own pride and greed.” – The Associated Press

“A very superior piece of work, one of the best new American plays in 2008. Back Back Back never feels like a docudrama, much less a polemic. Instead Mr. Moses has given us a taut, touchingly elegiac study of friendship and betrayal, one whose three characters are creatures of flesh and blood, not historical sock puppets.” – The Wall Street Journal

“Enormously watchable, unpredictable and unpretentiously serious. The stories of injuries, trades and relationships unfold with lively thoughtfulness.” – Newsday

“Besides the sheer fun of hearing these guys banter and trash talk, there is an undertow of melancholy to Itamar Moses’ pitch-perfect script.” – NY1

Five Women Wearing the Same Dress

by Alan Ball
directed by Dawn Larsen

April 12-14, 2012
7:30 pm, Fine Arts Theatre
Peter D. Hyman Fine Arts Center

THE STORY:
Concept: “Here she is, the perfect woman, the ultimate do girl. She’s beautiful, she has a great body, she has a fancy career, and now she’s got herself a rich husband who worships the ground she walks on. But she doesn’t have any friends, does she?”

Synopsis: During an ostentatious wedding reception at a Knoxville, Tennessee, estate, five reluctant, identically clad bridesmaids hide out in an upstairs bedroom, each with her own reason to avoid the proceedings below. They are Frances, a painfully sweet but sheltered fundamentalist; Mindy, the cheerful, wise-cracking lesbian sister of the groom; Georgeanne, whose heartbreak over her own failed marriage triggers outrageous behavior; Meredith, the bride’s younger sister whose precocious rebelliousness masks a dark secret; and Trisha, a jaded beauty whose die-hard cynicism about men is called into question when she meets Tripp, a charming bad-boy usher to whom there is more than meets the eye.

As the afternoon wears on, these five very different women joyously discover a common bond in this wickedly funny, irreverent and touching celebration of the women’s spirit.

Playwright Alan Ball is writer of the Academy Award-winning American Beauty and the hit HBO series Six Feet Under and True Blood.