- November 21, 2024
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The pandemic often felt like the end of the world. Contemporary playwrights noticed — and caught the apocalyptic vibe. Theaters had gone dark, but they didn’t stop writing. Their unproduced scripts often felt like “Twilight Zone” episodes. Or fever dreams.
When live theater turned the lights back on, hungry ghosts, plagues and devil dogs filled the stage. But reports of impending apocalypse proved greatly exaggerated. The world didn’t end. Life still goes on.
Contemporary playwrights noticed that, too. You can see it in many of their recent plays. The focus has shifted away from dangerous visions of life’s end. Life itself is the new focus — as it unfolds in the daily lives of everyday people, particularly women.
The five plays I’ve selected for fall 2024 share that quotidian focus. Their characters all seem ordinary. A few hit the big time; most don’t. After you get to know them, you’ll see how extraordinary they really are.
Oct.18-Dec. 1, Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St. $30-$44. Visit UrbaniteTheatre.com.
Playwrights find humor in unlikely places. In “Jennifer, Who is Leaving,” Morgan Gould found comedy in a shabby Massachusetts donut shop. Her peculiar play is a character study of three overworked women who’d rather be someplace else.
But they’re all in the wrong place — and at the wrong time, too. Here and now. At the donut shop. During the graveyard shift. Behind the counter, Nan is slinging donuts and dealing with incessant cell phone calls from her high-maintenance, retired husband.
Lili’s cramming for her high-stakes SAT exam tomorrow morning. If Lili’s test score is high, she might escape her dead-end life. But Lili’s father spits on her college dreams — and forces her go to work on the night before the test.
On the customer side, Jennifer’s having an unhappy meal with Joey, her impatient elderly patient. She’s a stressed-out caregiver, and he’s working her last nerve.
Nan, Lili and Jennifer have one thing in common. Taking care of other people is their job — even when they don’t get paid.
These caregivers are all women — and second-class citizens, too. That’s the way it is in the U.S.A. Why?
Gould’s play considers the physical, mental and emotional weight such nurturing women carry. Who cares for these caregivers? After seeing Gould’s poignant comedy directed by Celine Rosenthal, you will.
Oct. 29-Nov. 4, FSU/Asolo Conservatory, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail. $15-$30. Visit AsoloRep.org/conservatory.
Mrs. Ethel Savage, a recent widow, is the “savage” in question. Mr. Savage, her late husband, has just received his heavenly reward. As a result, Mrs. Savage just inherited her earthly reward — her late husband’s vast fortune. (She can’t recall the exact figure, but it’s in the ballpark of $10 million dollars.)
This noble Savage plans to use it for good causes. To her greedy stepchildren, such charity is proof of insanity. They plan to grab their stepmom’s wealth.
To get her out of the way, these rotters commit the kindly old widow to a secluded sanitorium called “The Cloisters.” Scary name, but it’s not such a bad place.
Once inside, Mrs. Savage makes friends with a few quirky and kind-hearted inmates. Unlike the smiling villains in her family, their loyalty isn’t an act. These so-called “loonies” really are on the widow’s side.
And they’re not as dumb as they look. It may sound crazy, but they hatch a clever scheme to set things right. John Patrick’s lighthearted comedy, directed by Marcus Johnson, mocks the cut-throat logic of hypocrisy, greed, and social climbing. The Cloisters’ logic is far gentler. This nuthouse is more like a sane asylum. It’s the world outside it that’s mad.
Nov. 8-Dec. 29, FST's Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St. $25-$59. Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.
This Broadway hit is adapted from Adrienne Shelly’s 2007 film. It adds new lyrics and compositions by Grammy-winner Sara Bareilles, and a script by Jessie Nelson.
But it tells the same tale — the story of Jenna, a waitress trapped in a loveless marriage. In the game of love, she fumbles and gets bruised and penalized.
When it comes to the art of pie-making, Jenna is an Einstein with an oven. A baking contest (with a big cash prize) gives her a chance to reinvent her life. Spoiler alert: Jenna wins the prize — and finds friendship, romance and the courage to pursue her dreams.
Sound a bit too sugary? The taste of this musical, directed by Kate Alexander, is often sweet. But it’s not all sweetness and light. The show balances humor and engaging relationships with darker notes of domestic abuse and infidelity.
But relax. There’s a happy ending. That’s baked into Shelly’s original rom-com. Bareilles and Nelson don’t mess with her warmhearted recipe.
Nov. 13-Jan. 5, Asolo Repertory Theatre, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail. $35-$80. Visit AsoloRep.org.
Douglas McGrath’s Broadway blockbuster sings bring the story of the legendary Carole King to the Asolo Rep stage, where she will be played by Julia Knitel, reprising her Broadway role.
Calling King a “legend” isn’t hype. The singer/songwriter’s hits include “You’ve Got a Friend,” “I Feel the Earth Move,” “Jazzman” and many more. If James Brown was the hardest working man in show biz, Carole King was (and is) the hardest working woman.
McGrath’s high-energy, jukebox musical delivers King’s chart-topping anthems — along with some cool biographical liner notes. Turns out King married her songwriter partner, Gerry Goffin, had her first child at 18 and moved to the New Jersey burbs.
When did King first decide to create beautiful music? Turns out, she’d wanted to be a songwriter since high school. Her mother told her, “It’s not practical! Girls don’t write music.”
While King loved her mom, she didn’t take her advice. Before her 18th birthday, she’d written hits for Aretha Franklin and The Drifters. After a few more birthdays, King started singing her own songs.
She always sang from the heart — and became the voice of the 1960s generation by her 30th birthday. King’s voice still speaks to the generations that followed. In this musical love letter directed by Rob Melrose, it rings out loud and clear. And beautifully.
Dec. 5-15, The Sarasota Players, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Suite 1130. $30. Visit ThePlayers.org.
Amanda Heisey makes her directorial debut with this 2005 song-and-dance adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's classic 1868 novel — a coming-of-age story set during America’s Civil War.
Brooding, male, teenage geniuses were the standard protagonists of such tales back then. Young men came of age; young ladies (or their maids) did the dishes.
Alcott’s story had a rare female focus. She put the magnifying glass on the creative growth of four gifted young women — namely the March sisters (Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy) guided by their mother and aunt while their doctor father is at war.
“Little Women” isn’t just a complicated story — it’s more than one story. Composer Jason Howland and lyricist Mindi Dickstein wisely narrow it down to Jo’s story. She’s the middle sister, an aspiring writer and Alcott's alter ego.
Back in 1868, it was damned hard to become a writer if you were a member of the gentler sex. Jo is surrounded by hostility and indifference and filled with self-doubt. Must she renounce love to pursue her dreams?
Howland’s powerful score and Dickstein’s soaring lyrics put you inside her frustrated, ambitious skin. You feel what Jo feels and see through her eyes. It's a joyful, triumphant experience. Try not to miss it.
