The final two shows of the season are regional premieres.
God's Ear, written by Jenny Schwartz and directed by Kasi Campbell, is humorous and tragic, following a couple who cope with the death of their son with help from a variety of odd characters, including the Tooth Fairy, G.I. Joe and a transvestite airline stewardess.
Hysteria, by Terry Johnson, is the intellectual, farcical and fun telling of the story of a cancer-stricken Sigmund Freud in 1938 London and his encounter with artist Slavador Dali, among other visitors. Steven Carpenter will direct.
Like The Butterfingers Angel, Hysteria will be performed in the Smith Theatre. All other shows will be in the Studio Theater (formerly called the black box theatre) in the Horowitz Center for Visual and Performing Arts at HCC.
"Not every single play is going to appeal to every single person, but every play is going to promote discussion," Stebbins said. "The stories should stay with people after the curtain closes at the end of the night."
Stebbins said subscribers are "getting more comfortable going to see work that doesn't have name recognition. People are starting to recognize we're offering a unique theatergoing opportunity."
REP Stage will offer free opening night receptions, two Friday night post-show discussions and a Saturday afternoon preshow lecture for each play. It will also expand its pay-what-you-can program to every Wednesday performance.
Other outreach efforts are under way, now that an advisory committee has been formed to focus on increasing the company's audience and revenue.
This year, the committee will throw its first gala fundraiser, called REPartee. The evening of dinner and entertainment, scheduled for Nov. 15, will be a tribute to REP Stage founder Valerie Lash and an opportunity to highlight the group's activities.
"It has been too long a time REP Stage has been a huge community secret," said Steven A. Gershman, one of the committee advisors. "We have a fantastic professional theater right here in our town that is not highly attended."
sandyjalex@aol.com
Information and tickets: www.repstage.org or 410-772-4900.
