Main Street Productions and Westfield Playhouse have released the following synopses of their upcoming plays for 2020.
A Raisin in the Sun
By Lorraine Hansberry
Directed by Nancy Lafferty
Performance dates: March 20 to April 5
Set on Chicago’s South Side, the plot revolves around the divergent dreams and conflicts within three generations of the Younger family: son Walter Lee, his wife Ruth, his sister Beneatha, his son Travis, and matriarch Lena. When her deceased husband’s insurance money comes through, Mama Lena dreams of moving to a new home and a better neighborhood in Chicago. Walter Lee, a chauffeur, has other plans: Buying a liquor store and being his own man. Beneatha dreams of medical school. The tensions and prejudice they face form this seminal American drama. The Younger family’s heroic struggle to retain dignity in a harsh and changing world is a searing and timeless document of hope and inspiration.
Rumors
By Neil Simon
Directed by Brynn Tyszka
Performance dates: May 8 to 24
Auditions: March 2020
At a large, tastefully-appointed Sneden’s Landing townhouse, the Deputy Mayor of New York has just shot himself. Though only a flesh wound, four couples are about to experience a severe attack of Farce. Gathering for their 10th wedding anniversary, the host lies bleeding in the other room, and his wife is nowhere in sight. His lawyer, Ken, and wife, Chris, must get “the story” straight before the other guests arrive. As the confusions and miscommunications mount, the evening spins off into classic farcical hilarity.
30 Reasons Not to be in a Play
By Alan Haehnel (Youth Production)
Directed by Tanya Haas
Performance dates: July 17 to 26
Auditions: May 2020
Stage kisses, pinkeye, inciting World War III – these are only a few of the many things that can go wrong during the production of a play. From the author of 15 Reasons Not To Be in a Plav comes a full evening of the horrors and hardships that befall those who feel the call of the stage. In a series of hilarious examples, this play proves that drama can be a very dangerous thing and it must be avoided at all costs.
Hedda Gabler
By Henrik Ibsen
Directed by Adam Davis
Produced by Bill Miller
Performance dates: Sept. 18 to Oct. 4
Auditions: Aug. 2020
Hedda Gabler focusses on the frustrated existence of its title character, exploring core issues of power, control and social expectation. Bored and restricted by her middle-class environment, Hedda plays out her own fantasies and psychological games with those nearest to her to an ultimately costly end.
Annie
Music by Charles Strouse
Lyrics by Martin Charnin
Book by Thomas Meehan
Directed by Jan Jamison
Performance dates: Holiday 2020, if license available
Auditions: Sept. 2020
With equal measures of pluck and positivity, little orphan Annie charms everyone’s hearts despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. She is determined to find the parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City orphanage that is run by the cruel, embittered Miss Hannigan. With the help of the other girls in the orphanage, Annie escapes to the wondrous world of NYC. In adventure after fun-filled adventure, Annie foils Miss Hannigan’s evil machinations … and even befriends President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She finds a new home and family in billionaire Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary Grace Farrell, and a lovable mutt named Sandy.