[NEohioPAL] convegence-continuum announces 2010 season

[convergence-continuum]

CONVERGENCE-CONTINUUM ANNOUNCES ITS 2010 SEASON,
with six shows running March-December, featuring three Ohio premieres and
a world premiere.

Show 1:  Kimberly Akimbo, by David Lindsay-Abaire.    Mar 19 – Apr 17.  
Directed by Clyde Simon.
"A wacky, touching and totally charming dark comedy that gives a whole new
meaning to 'coming of age story.'" —NY Daily News.  Kimberly is a
16-year-old suburban teenager, but for some reason, physically she’s aged
at 4½  times the usual rate.  (Do the math: 16x4½ =72)  And as if all the
usual teenage high-school stuff weren’t enough, like the nerdy guy in her
class that hangs around her all the time, she also has to contend with
harebrained parents and an eccentric scam-artist aunt.  “Kimberly Akimbo
is at once a shrewd satire, a black comedy and a heartbreaking study of
how time wounds everyone." —NY Times.

Show 2: Dark Ride, by Len Jenkin.  May 21 – Jun 19.  Directed by Geoffrey
Hoffman.
A strange, phantasmagoric tale with stories within stories, involving
characters who at first seem to bear no relation to each other. To name
but a few: a mysterious figure gives a scholar an ancient manuscript to
translate; a thief steals an enormous jewel; a woman assures us that life
is all coincidence; a dream-like waitress serves up plenty to think about,
but no food.  The images are bizarre, funny and provocative, and they
finally coalesce into a pattern when a group of oculists meet for a
convention in Mexico City.  “The trip itself, like a spooky show in a
carnival tunnel, is full of bright, surprising images, scary and funny.” –
The Village Voice.

Show 3:  Hunter Gatherers, by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb. (Ohio premiere) Jul 16
– Aug 14.  Directed by Clyde Simon.
"Outrageously libidinous knockabout farce meets penetrating social satire
in Peter Nachtrieb's hilariously revelatory comedy" —San Francisco
Chronicle.  Pam and Richard are hosting their best friends, Wendy and Tom,
for their annual dinner get-together. An animal sacrifice kicks off the
evening, followed by a little more sex, violence, deception, revelations,
wrestling and dancing than in previous years. A darkly comic evening where
the line between civilized and primal man is blurred, and where not
everyone will survive long enough to enjoy the brownies for dessert.

Show 4:  Say You Love Satan, by Roberto Aguirre-Sacassa. (Ohio premiere) 
Sep 3 - 25.  Directed by Clyde Simon.
Talk about the boyfriend from hell!  “One part Dostoyevsky, two parts
horror film, one part Revelations, and a dash of queer culture." (Boston
Globe), Say You Love Satan is a devilish romantic comedy that is smart,
hip, literate and hilarious.  Andrew, an affable grad student researching
Dostoevsky, has the perfect med-student boyfriend, but one night at the
laundromat he meets a handsome stranger named Jack.  Andrew is immediately
smitten as Jack removes his shirt to add it to the wash.  Intrigued,
Andrew starts dating Jack.  Only problem is, hidden by his mop of gorgeous
hair, Jack has the Mark of the Beast (666), and his Dad is 
 well, the
Devil.   "Packed with sly pokes at psychobabble, horror tropes, and
real-life sex in the city, the script keeps raining zingers." —East Bay
Express.

Show 5:  Brainpeople, by Jose Rivera.  (Ohio premiere)  Oct 15 – Nov 13.
 Directed by Clyde Simon.
Jose Rivera’s latest play is a surreal drama in which a genial, lonely
heiress invites two strangers to her once opulent penthouse for a strange
feast commemorating the death of her parents. Taking place in a
not-so-distant future, the sounds of a war-torn Los Angeles fill the air.
She has done this every year, and the two troubled women she has invited
stand to take home $20,000 each if they can make it through dessert. Over
the course the evening her dark purpose is revealed to be much more than a
mere commemoration, as tensions rise, identities transform, and the main
dish proves not to be the only thing with claws.  “Rivera has created an
intriguing and evocative drama with the social and psychological terrors
that have leapt from the grottoes of the women’s minds” – San Francisco
Chronicle.  “This real-time drama
offers great insight into how basic
human nature can go bizarrely astray when the world is falling apart.” –
San Francisco Bay Guardian.

Show 6:  APORKALYPSE! by Chris Johnston.  (world premiere)  Dec 3 - 19.
 Directed by Clyde Simon.
Our not-for-the-kiddies holiday show is a world premiere by Cleveland
playwright Chris Johnston. Christmas, Marines AWOL from Iraq, a Persian
love goddess and corporate American agri-business all collide down at
Pawpaw’s pig farm.  (And since it’s the holidays, thar’s some singin’ and
accordion playin’ too.)  For this three-week run, we’ve added 7pm Sunday
performances to the usual Thu-Sat 8pm shows.