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<p class="s8" style="margin:0in"><span class="s9"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">
</span><span class="s13"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Beck Center For The Arts Sets The Stage For</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="s12" align="center" style="margin:0in;text-align:center"><span class="s13"><b><i><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Speech & Debate
</span></i></b></span><i><o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="s12" align="center" style="margin:0in;text-align:center"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#EE0000;background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow">Preview Thursday, May 28 at 7:30 pm. $15 tickets at
<a href="https://beckcenter.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/instances/a0FUq00000Bo6lSMAR">
<span style="color:#EE0000">https://beckcenter.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/instances/a0FUq00000Bo6lSMAR</span></a></span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#EE0000">
</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="s8" style="margin:0in"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="s12" style="margin:0in"><span class="s9"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Lakewood, OH</span></b></span><span class="s10"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">–</span></span><a href="https://beckcenter.org"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Beck
Center for the Arts </span></a><span class="s10"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">is pleased to produce the professional theater production of
</span></span><a href="https://beckcenter.org/theater/speech-debate"><b><i><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Speech & Debate</span></i></b></a><span class="s10"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">, directed by Case Western Reserve University’s
</span></span><a href="https://theater.case.edu/faculty/donald-carrier/"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Don Carrier.</span></a><span class="s10"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">
</span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="s15" style="margin:0in;text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">What happens when three high school students on the fringes decide to “take down” a corrupt drama teacher? The answer is
</span><a href="https://beckcenter.org/theater/speech-debate"><b><i><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Speech & Debate</span></i></b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">,</span></a><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> written by
</span><a href="https://www.stephenkaram.com/"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Stephen Karam,</span></a><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> running in the Studio Theater from May 29 through June 28, 2026. Three misfit high school students
in Salem, Oregon form a unique debate club, complete with a musical version of <i>
The Crucible</i>, an unusual podcast, and a plot to take down their corrupt drama teacher. With his signature wit, playwright Karam follows the trio's attempts to fend off the menace of encroaching adulthood with edgy humor and subversive antics.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Director </span>
<a href="https://theater.case.edu/faculty/donald-carrier/"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Don Carrier</span></a><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> shared, “While
<b><i>Speech & Debate</i></b> was first produced (surprisingly) almost 20 years ago, its themes of alienation, hypocrisy, and the need to belong are all too relevant. This highly original and comic take on high school students navigating their way to graduation
will strike a note of recognition to anyone who's been there, or is still on the journey!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="s15" style="margin:0in;text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="s16"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2:30 p.m. Sundays.
</span></span><span class="s17"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Preview performances are 7:30 p.m. the Thursday before opening night, with general admission seating for just $15. Smart Seats are available for each performance at just $15 per person.
For more information on the 2025-2026 Professional Theater Season please visit </span>
</span><a href="https://beckcenter.org"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">beckcenter.org.</span></a><span class="s17"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:red">
</span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="s17"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:red"> </span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">This production is presented in arrangement with Dramatist Play Service.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">"Stephen Karam's savvy comedy is bristling with vitality, wicked humor, terrific dialogue, and a direct pipeline into the zeitgeist of contemporary youth" -- David Rooney<i>, Variety</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"> </span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">“Hilarious...<b><i>Speech & Debate’s</i></b> real accomplishment is its picture of the borderland between late adolescence and adulthood, where grown-up ideas and
ambition coexist with childish will and bravado...We never feel we’re being educated, just immensely entertained.” – Caryn James,
<i>New York Times</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;background:white;vertical-align:baseline">
<span class="s25"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">All performances are at theaters inside </span></span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://beckcenter.org/"><span class="s29"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:blue">Beck
Center for the Arts</span></span></a></span><span class="s16"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> located at 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, just ten minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Free on-site parking is available. For more information
visit </span></span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://beckcenter.org/"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">beckcenter.org.</span></a></span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="s15" style="margin:0in;text-align:justify"><span class="s10"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Beck Center for the Arts is proud to be a part of Northeast Ohio’s professional theater landscape, operating under a letter of agreement with Actors’ Equity Association. We are a Small Professional
Theater (SPT) based on the number of seats, number of our performances, and the maximum weekly hours of work we provide to actors. We produce every show on our stages, by choosing the play, casting and rehearsing it, building the sets, props, and costumes,
directing and performing the live music, and designing lights and sound. We proudly utilize regional resources and talent.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> </span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Beck Center for the Arts also offers arts education for all ages, all skill levels, and all abilities with classes and lessons in music, dance, visual arts, and theater, as well as creative
arts therapies. Financial assistance is offered to qualified applicants so that these programs can be enjoyed by all.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="s15" style="margin:0in;text-align:justify"><span class="s26"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="s10"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Programming at Beck Center for the Arts is made possible through the generous support of First Federal Lakewood,
</span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Callahan, Klym, and Fowler Foundations,
</span><span class="s10"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">and the Ohio Arts Council. </span></span><span class="s26"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Beck Center gratefully acknowledges the generous funding provided by the citizens of
Cuyahoga County through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.</span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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