For immediate release:
Press contact: Bill Largess
pr@stageguild.org
240-582-0050
Washington Stage Guild Unveils 2019-20 Season of Great Writers and more:
Shaw, Dickens, Joyce, Beckett…and André the Giant.
SEASON PASSES ON SALE NOW!
Washington Stage Guild announces its 34th season, dedicated to plays by and about some of the past two centuries’ greatest writers. The season will feature one of GB Shaw’s most beloved plays, an adaptation of a classic novel by Charles Dickens, a play set in Dublin on Bloomsday when James Joyce’s Ulysses takes place, and a play in which a 20th century intellectual giant encounters a physical one. The Washington Stage Guild’s 2019-2020 season will be a feast of language and thought that honors these storytellers in thrillingly theatrical ways.
“We’re happily bringing our favorite playwright, George Bernard Shaw, back into the mix this season, and to accompany his return we thought we’d invite some other titans along, “ says Stage Guild Artistic Director Bill Largess. “Together with CANDIDA, not seen in DC since our 1988 production, we will present a clever adaptation of a Dickens novel, and two plays that echo our 1999 production of LUCIA MAD, which depicts the relationship between Joyce and Beckett, with a famous professional wrestler thrown in for good measure.”
The Washington Stage Guild 2019-2020 Season:
CANDIDA by George Bernard Shaw
Directed by Laura Giannarelli
September 26-October 20, 2019
Press Performance Sunday matinee, September 29, 2019 at 2:30 pm
A preacher and a poet are both in love with the same woman. The former is her husband, the latter wants to woo her away and both are shocked by her ultimate choice and the reasons for it…A very “Pleasant Play” indeed!
HARD TIMES by Charles Dickens
Adapted for the stage by Stephen Jeffreys
Directed by Bill Largess
November 14 through December 8, 2019
Press Performance Sunday matinee, November 17, 2019 at 2:30 pm
Charles Dickens’s tale of love, loss, and circus folk is set against the backdrop of Industrial Revolution England. This clever version, in which four actors play dozens of characters has not been seen in Washington for over two decades!
BLOOMSDAY by Steven Dietz
Directed by Kasi Campbell
January 23 through February 16, 2020
Press Performance Sunday matinee, January 26, 2020 at 2:30 pm
A young couple meet on a walking tour of James Joyce’s Dublin, but a misunderstanding keeps them apart. Thirty-five years later, they return to retrace their steps and confront their younger selves about the missed opportunity. An area premiere of this time-bending romance.
SAM AND DEDE, or My Dinner with André the Giant
by Gino DiIorio
Directed by Steven Carpenter
March 19 through April 12, 2020
Press Performance Sunday matinee, March 22, 2020 at 2:30 pm
One of the unlikeliest of friendships began when an aspiring writer, an Irish expatriate in France, gave a young man (whose remarkable size made him the object of derision) rides to school each day. The play suggests that over the years, Samuel Beckett and André the Giant discussed playwriting, pro wrestling, and where their lives had led them. An area premiere.
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2019-2020 Season Passes are available now. Each Pass gives the recipient four admissions that can be used any way: all four at once; two for one show, two for another; or one for each production.
PERFORMANCE TIMES AND PRICES FOR ALL PRODUCTIONS
- Thursday evenings at 7:30 pm $50.00
- Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm $60.00
- Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:30 pm $50.00
- Discounts are available for senior citizens, students, and groups.
- Season passes are available, offering incredible savings for the entire Washington Stage Guild season. $125 each.
LOCATION FOR ALL PERFORMANCES
The Undercroft Theatre of Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church
900 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20001
The Undercroft Theatre is located in the heart of downtown Washington, on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and 9th Street, NW. It’s steps from the Convention Center, and blocks from the National Mall, the Smithsonian, the Verizon Center, Chinatown, and restaurants galore!
The Undercroft Theatre is within easy walking distance from the following Metro stations:
- Gallery Place/Chinatown—Exit SE corner of 9th and G St, NW (Green, Yellow and Red lines)
- Mt. Vernon Square—Exit SW corner of 7th and M St, NW (Green and Yellow lines)
- Metro Center—Exit SE corner of 11th and G St, NW (Blue, Red and Orange lines)
