VENUE:
All but one of the performances will be at Gunston Arts Center, Theatre Two, 2700 South Lang Street, Arlington, VA 22206. (The exception is the February 16 reading of a play about art, which will be at Fred Schnider Art Gallery, 888 North Quincy Street, Arlington, VA 22203.)
ADMISSION:
The seven play readings are free, no reservations required. The performances February 22 to 24 of
A Two Woman Hamlet
are Pay What You Will, with advance reservations at avantbard.org/tickets recommended.
Dine and drink at Delia's and save!
Our delicious restaurant partner
Delia's will take 15% off your bill during the Scripts in Play Festival if you mention "Avant Bard" or "Scripts in Play." At all other times, Delia's will take 10% off your bill if you mention "Avant Bard." Delia's is minutes from Gunston Arts Center at
2931 South Glebe Road, Arlington, VA 22206;
(571) 483-0159.
SCRIPTS IN PLAY FESTIVAL 2019 PROGRAM
Friday, February 8, 7:30 pm
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Matt Minnicino
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Antigone
By Matt Minnicino
Directed by Jon Jon Johnson
A body rots in the sun. A girl takes a stand against the new regime. What is she fighting for? How far can she go? A collision of Sophocles' masterpiece and modern America, a mixed-media myth for modern times about fear, tyranny, justice, revolution, revelation, and hope. From Matt Minnicino, author
A Misanthrope,
the 2017
Scripts in Play Festival
favorite that will cap off our 2019 mainstage season.
Saturday, February 9, 7:30 pm
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Alexandra Petri
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Tragedy Averted
By Alexandra Petri
Directed by Doug Robinson
What if, instead of dying tragically at the end of the play, Shakespeare's heroines had a place where they could all meet and form lasting friendships? A neutral ground free from war, from bumbling priests and conniving villains, a place with...capture the flag? In
Tragedy Averted,
Cordelia, Desdemona, Juliet, and Ophelia meet at a summer camp with a dark secret that will force them to find strengths and friends they didn't know they had
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Written by viral
Washington Post
humorist and current Welder Alexandra Petri.
Sunday, February 10, 2 pm
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Allyson Currin
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Hercules in Russia
By Allyson Currin
Directed by Doug Robinson
Another rebellion is not what Jim Hercules needs.
Hercules in Russia
tells the true story of a free black man born in the Reconstruction South who has fled to Russia to escape the demons of his history in America, finding a new life as a royal guard in the court of Nicholas II. As the specter of revolution looms over his adopted motherland, Hercules must weigh past against present, head against heart, and loyalty against justice. Written by Allyson Currin, two-time Helen Hayes Award nominee, former Welder, and author of
Caesar and Dada,
produced by Avant Bard in 2013
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Thursday, February 14, 7:30 pm
By Amanda Quain & Rebecca Speas
Directed by Katie Ganem
Starring Amanda Quain & Rebecca Speas
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Rebecca Speas
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It's the
prequel you didn't know you needed,
Pride & Prejudice
meets
Dude, Where's My Car? Hey Darcy! A Bromantic Comedy
is the story of Darcy and Bingley's rollicking, youthful road trip across Europe, where boys become men, and men become more-emotionally-accessible-yet-still-bumblingly-affable men (but still played by women). Starring playwrights Amanda Quain and Rebecca Speas as the surprisingly modern suitors,
Hey Darcy!
is a hot take on Austen's quintessential (b)romantic-era novel.
Friday, February 15, 7:30 pm
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Richard Byrne
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Three Suitcases
By Richard Byrne
Directed by Quill Nebeker
Here's what we know: Expressionist playwright Ernst Toller, whose poems and plays were burnt in the first fires of the Nazi regime, was exiled to America. We know that while living here, he had a secretary named Ilse Burroughs, wife of Beat Generation icon William S. Burroughs. Here's what we don't know: When the two undoubtedly met, what was said? Here's more we don't know: What duty does art have to the people? What is the role of poetry in resistance? And can words change the world?
Three Suitcases
is a sharp, passionate turn of speculative fiction from Richard Byrne, who wrote the book and lyrics for
Nero/Pseudo,
produced by Avant Bard in 2014.
Saturday, February 16, 7:30 pm
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Lojo Simon
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Adoration of Dora
By Lojo Simon
Directed by Jon Jon Johnson
VENUE: Fred Schnider Art Gallery, 888 North Quincy Street, Arlington, VA 22203
Best known (unjustly) as the model behind many of Picasso's most famous portraits, Dora Maar was already an extraordinary photographer long before Pablo entered the frame. As a surrealist, she made it her art to find the latent truth hidden in the inner workings of the mind. As a photographer, she made it her mission to document and combat the rise of inequality and fascism.
Adoration of Dora
is her story, told in dreamy snapshots inspired by her art. It was written by West Coast playwright Lojo Simon and won the 2012 David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award.
Adoration of Dora
is presented in special partnership at the Fred Schnider Art Gallery in Ballston to explore the intersection of theatre and visual art.
Sunday, February 17, 2 pm
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Lauren Gunderson
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Ada and the Engine
By Lauren Gunderson
Directed by Rebecca Speas
Augusta Ada King, the only legitimate child of the amorous poet Lord Byron, had a love of her own: mathematics. Well, that...and a certain polymath-inventor, Charles Babbage, famous as "the father of the computer." It's true Babbage invented the hardware--the Analytic Engine--but the language, the song, the soul of the thing,
the programming
--that was all Ada, baby. From prolific playwright Lauren Gunderson, author of last season's inspirational
Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight,
comes another whimsical scientific history that once again proves the future is, and has always been, female.
February 22 & 23, 7:30 pm, and February 24, 2 pm
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A Two Woman Hamlet trailer
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A Two Woman Hamlet
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Mara Sherman
Starring Hannah Sweet & Nicola Collett
ADMISSION: Pay What You Will
No matter how many
Hamlet
s you've seen, you have never seen it like this: two women, armed with nothing but a fake skull, a real shovel, and a lot of imagination, perform Shakespeare's classic play. Sounds far-fetched? The Washington Post called it "ingenious...a production whose approach is all about turning limits into opportunity.
"
DC Metro Theater Arts called it "hilariously entertaining...something I'd not imagined was possible to do." A weekend-long encore of the Capital Fringe hit,
A Two Woman Hamlet
is presented as a full production at a Pay What You Will price.
Following the performances of
A Two Woman Hamlet February 22, 23 & 24, hang out with cast members at
Delia's and enjoy a unique "Meet the Cast" menu featuring special prices on dishes and drinks!
