Urbanite Theatre lifts curtain on inaugural season lineup

Urbanite Theatre, Sarasota's newest black box theater, which opens this April, has reached another milestone on its path to bringing young, contemporary edgy live theater to Sarasota.

Co-artistic directors Brendan Ragan and Summer Wallace announced yesterday their three-play lineup of Florida premieres for Urbanite's inaugural season, which will run from April to early September.

Urbanite will launch its first season with a U.S. premiere of "Chicken Shop," a production by playwright Anna Jordan that was named the 2014 London Fringe Production of the Year by West End Frame Awards. Ragan and Wallace have worked alongside Jordan to collaborate on a new script for the U.S. premiere, which will run from April 10 to May 3. Auditions will be held Sunday, Feb. 15.

In June, Urbanite will present "Reborning," a play by award-winning playwright Zayd Dohrn, which was praised by the "Los Angeles Times" for its powerful script. The performance, which will run from June 12 to July 5, will be the play's fifth production.

The theater will close its season with a production of Lucas Hnath's award-winning play, "Isaac's Eye," which will run from Aug. 14 to Sept. 6.

Tickets for all productions will be available for purchase this March, and open auditions for "Chicken Shop will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 15 at the Urbanite Theatre, located at 1487 Second St.