2014 12-Play Staged Reading Subscription Package

Intrepid presents staged readings monthly at the Encinitas Library. Each reading begins with a complimentary wine and appetizer reception and is followed by an opportunity to talk with the director and actors. The doors open at 6:30pm and the evenings typically end between 9 and 10pm. Intrepid is thrilled to announce 3, 6, 9 & 12 play subscription packages to the 2014 Play Reading Season:

2014 STAGED READING SERIES

Monday, January 27
THE TALE OF THE ALLERGIST'S WIFE by Charles Busch
Directed by Ruff Yeager

Marjorie Taub, a middle-aged Upper West Side Doctor's wife, is devoted to mornings at the Whitney, afternoons at MOMA and evenings at BAM.   Plunged into a mid-life crisis of Medea-like proportions, she's shaken out of her lethargy by the reappearance of a fascinating and somewhat mysterious childhood friend.

"The Allergist's Wife earns its wall to wall laughs." - Ben Brantley, The New York Times

"Charles Busch comes of age as a comic playwright of the first rank." - The New York Daily News

Monday, February 24
ABUNDANCE by Beth Henley
Directed by Shana Wride

From the Pulitzer Prize winning author of Crimes of the Heart comes the incredibly funny and deeply touching adventure of Macon and Bess, two mail-order brides lured to the West for the promise of a better life through marriage to men they've never met.  This amazing journey follows the two women through their friendship for the next 25 years.  Beth Henley illustrates a rarely seen portrait of our American mythology as told through the women who lived it.

"Abundance percolates with dark laughter...this is its author's most provocative play in years" - The New York Times

"Henley has an unmistakable talent for making human desperation seem funny, complex and unpredictable."  - Village Voice

Monday, March 24
IN A FOREST, DARK AND DEEP by Neil LaBute
Directed by Francis Gercke

On a dark and stormy night, all Bobby thought he was doing was helping his sister Betty clear out her cottage in the forest. But in this cabin of lies nothing is as it seems and the truth refuses to be packed away. What is she hiding? Does he really want to find out? A dark comedy of sibling rivalry escalates into a psychological thriller bursting with savage conflict.  Featuring Jessica John Gercke

"You never know quite where you are with Neil LaBute...And in this highly entertaining, 100-minute two-hander he pulls the rug from under our feet so often that we end up feeling breathless." - The Guardian (London)

"The story of a brother and sister caught up in a terrible and complicated dynamic...utterly absorbing." - AustralianStage.com

Monday, April 28
TWELVE ANGRY MEN by Reginald Rose
Directed by Brian Mackey

Twelve Angry Men unfolds in a New York City courtroom on a sweltering August evening as a jury is filed into a deliberation room.  They are tasked with determining the verdict in a murder case in which a young man is accused of killing his father and faces the death penalty if found guilty.  These dozen nameless men find themselves in the role of potential executioner, but first they must face themselves, their biases and their own sense of justice. What starts as an open-and-shut case soon twists into an edge of your seat drama as each juror begins to question how he should cast their vote.

"It makes for taut, absorbing, and compelling drama that reaches far beyond the close confines of its jury room setting." - The New York Times

"A masterpiece!" - Roger Ebert

Monday, May 26
A NUMBER by Caryl Churchill
Directed by Danielle Amato

Human cloning is the subject of this deeply intriguing hour-long psychological thriller that blends topical scientific speculation with a stunning portrait of the relationship between fathers and their sons. Full of half-told stories and tantalizing clues, A Number ushers audiences into a hall of mirrors, where they are invited to follow Churchill's carefully laid path through the minefield of family relationships.

"Magnificent...Contains more drama, and more ideas, than most manage in a dozen full-length works...What a tremendous play this is, moving, thought-provoking and dramatically thrilling." - Daily Telegraph

"Churchill's power to grip an audience is an extraordinary thing." - Observer

Monday, June 23
PRIVATE LIVES by Noel Coward
Directed by TBA

The glamorous divorcee Amanda and her prosaic new husband honeymoon on the French Riviera. When Amanda finds that the hotel room next to theirs is occupied by her ex-husband, the rich and reckless Elyot, old passions begin to bubble. Elyot and Amanda - with no regard for propriety - forget all about the faults that drove them apart in the first place...for a little while, anyway.

"Gorgeous, dazzling, fantastically funny." - The New York Times

"A gleaming and gleeful comedy." - New York Post

Monday, July 28
DEFIANCE by John Patrick Shanley
Directed by Francis Gercke

Defiance is set on a United States Marine Corps base in North Carolina in 1971. Two officers, one black and one white, are on a collision course over race, women and the high cost of doing the right thing. This riveting, surprising new work is about power, love and responsibility - who has it, who wants it and who deserves it.

"As thoughtful and probing as Doubt. An arresting, ambitious tale of race relations and the military mindset, filled with the provocative questions and bristling with dialogue for which John Patrick Shanley, a fierce moral sage, is known." - The New York Times

"Thrilling! A lean, powerful fist of a play. With rare compassion, rigor and craft, Shanley again makes a frontal attack on a subject we think we know too well, and proves otherwise." - NY Newsday

Monday, August 25
THE MILK TRAIN DOESN’T STOP HERE ANYMORE by Tennessee Williams
Directed by Ruff Yeager

Described as an allegory and a 'sophisticated fairy tale', the play takes a look at the final two days in the life of Flora "Sissy" Goforth, a legendary diva (and former Ziegfeld showgirl), whose last exotic summer is consumed with an effort to dictate her memoirs before she dies, a Mediterranean summer disturbingly interrupted by the appearance of a handsome young poet, known to play companion to wealthy old women as they near death.

"Tennessee Williams' most arresting drama..." - NY Daily News

"Fascinating tragi-comedy" - NY Mirror

Monday, September 22
WAITING FOR GODOT by Samuel Beckett
Directed by Shana Wride

Waiting for Godot by Nobel Prize winner Samuel Beckett is one of the most important and enigmatic plays of the 20th century.  The story revolves around two unlikely heroes waiting for someone - or something - named Godot. The result is a comical wordplay of poetry, dreamscapes, and nonsense, which has been interpreted as mankind's inexhaustible search for meaning. Featuring Phil Johnson and Ruff Yeager

"...moving, often funny, grotesquely beautiful and utterly absorbing." - NY Post

"Hilarious!" - NY World-Telegram

Monday, October 27
TITUS ANDRONICUS by William Shakespeare
Directed by Ruff Yeager 

Victorious in his wars against the Goths, Roman general Titus Andronicus brings home as his captives Queen Tamora, her lover Aaron, and her three sons. Ignoring Tamora’s pleas, Titus hands over her eldest son for sacrifice – thus setting in motion a relentless cycle of revenge.  The most shocking play in Shakespeare's canon - an extraordinary fusion of the savage and the sublime.

Monday, November 24
SEMINAR by Theresa Rebeck
Directed by Francis Gercke

In Seminar, a provocative comedy from Pulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeck, four aspiring young novelists sign up for private writing classes with Leonard, an international literary figure. Under his recklessly brilliant and unorthodox instruction, some thrive and others flounder, alliances are made and broken, sex is used as a weapon and hearts are unmoored. The wordplay is not the only thing that turns vicious as innocence collides with experience in this biting Broadway comedy.

"Five Stars! Sexy, savvy and uproarious!" - David Cote, Time Out New York

"Big laughs! An authentic rush of pleasure." - Ben Brantley, The New York Times

Saturday, December 14
A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens
Directed by Brian Mackey

Intrepid's holiday tradition continues! Recapture the spirit of an old-fashioned Christmas with this timeless Dickens classic. Featuring curmudgeonly old Scrooge, adorable Tiny Tim, and the Ghosts of Christmas past, present and yet-to-come, A Christmas Carol is a sparkling, music-infused celebration of goodwill that your family will never forget.

Purchasing a 12-Play Subscription Package gives you a savings of 60% off ticket prices. If you have any questions, please phone the Intrepid Office at (760) 295-7541.

The Encinitas Library is located at 540 Cornish Drive, Encinitas, CA 92024