A Puzzle in Play Form
Playwright Richard Greenberg once described his play Three Days of Rain as a puzzle the audience gets to assemble: “It lays out two sets of information, and you have to put them together. The first act is the present dreaming the past, and the second act is the past dreaming the future. The play is really about the gulf between those two ideas. It's a play about ambiguity, built on irony. The subject is how little we can know, how much we can know, how much we need to know. The way it works is the audience finds out more than anyone onstage will ever know.” Rain premiered at SCR in 1997 before going on to successful runs in New York, London and across the country. It returns home May 13 – June 12.
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A Magical Musical, Fit for an Emperor
In the Theatre for Young Audiences’ musical version of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Emperor’s New Clothes, the vain old king has been transformed into a lovably insecure teenager. Marcus is just 14 and has only finished reading the first chapter of “How to Be a Better Emperor.” Determined to look noble and brave, Marcus asks his royal clothesmaker to make him a new wardrobe. But when his villagers laugh at him, Marcus listens to a fast-talking swindler who promises to sell him a set of magical clothes that cannot be seen by liars or fools. In the end, Marcus learns important lessons about being himself and being truthful. The Emperor’s New Clothes runs May 20 through June 5.
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SCR Players Pack 'Em In
Question: How many shows does SCR produce each season? If your answer is 13, you’re right. If it’s 16, you’re also right! Because the Theatre Conservatory adds three shows to the regular season, performed by the Junior, Teen and Summer Players. These acting ensembles are comprised of young thespians in the fifth grade through high school, and their shows are sell-out hits with children. But they’re not child’s play. Theatre Conservatory Director Hisa Takakuwa urges her hard-working students to use what they’ve learned in fall classes and then go one step further, taking on challenging roles in major productions during the spring and summer.
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