Deep Dish Announces 2007-2008 Season

Makes Season Tickets Available for the First Time

CHAPEL HILL – Deep Dish Theater Company presents the lineup for its seventh season, beginning late August at the company’s home in Chapel Hill’s University Mall.

“Last season was a real coming-of-age year for us,” said founding Artistic Director Paul Frellick. “Our first world-premiere production, a visit from renowned actor/director/playwright Austin Pendleton, post-show discussions led by scholars and activists from across the state, not to mention comfortable seating and a whole new lighting set-up—all heralded the beginning of a new chapter in our production history. And we’re excited to be carrying that momentum into this new season, which promises to be a thrilling one.”

The season will begin with the August 23 opening of Amlin Gray’s How I Got That Story, a knife-edged satire about an “embedded” war reporter. Artistic Director Frellick will direct the production, which will feature Derrick Ivey playing a host of characters living in a fictional war-torn land. It runs through September 15, and will be followed by A Lesson from Aloes, a haunting drama by South African playwright Athol Fugard. Playing October 18 to November 10, the production will be staged by veteran theater and television director Joan Darling.

From February 14 through March 8, Deep Dish will present the 1946 Pulitzer Prize-winner State of the Union, a surprisingly contemporary look at presidential politics. The comic drama will feature David zum Brunnen, who appeared in the Deep Dish production of Via Dolorosa, and will be directed by Frellick. The season’s final presentation, playing May 1-24, will be Sarah Ruhl’s The Clean House, the acclaimed off-Broadway comedy about a Brazilian woman and the people whose home she tends, directed by Deep Dish Resident Director Tony Lea.

For the first time this season, Deep Dish will offer patrons the opportunity to purchase season tickets, beginning July 1. With most performances selling out, early ticket purchases will help patrons ensure they don’t miss a show. Season ticket holders will also be the first to know about special events, like our Book Discussions, Short Story evenings and the staged reading of The Ice-Breaker, a special cooperative venture with Playmakers Repertory Company this spring.

The 2007-2008 Season:
HOW I GOT THAT STORY
by Amlin Gray, directed by Paul Frellick
August 23 – September 15
An “embedded” war reporter tries to get a handle on a culture he doesn’t know while covering a conflict he doesn’t understand. A fiercely theatrical comedy of nightmare proportions.

A LESSON FROM ALOES
by Athol Fugard, directed by Joan Darling
October 18 – November 10
Three long-time friends, split apart by the machinations of the apartheid regime, meet for dinner amid suspicion that one of them is a traitor to their revolutionary cause. A haunting work by South Africa’s leading playwright.

STATE OF THE UNION
by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse, directed by Paul Frellick
February 14 – March 8
A shrewd, witty, and surprisingly contemporary look at politics, as a business tycoon and his family contemplate a run for the Presidency. Winner of the 1946 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

THE CLEAN HOUSE
by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Tony Lea
May 1-24
A lovely and often riotous comedy about a young Brazilian woman and the people whose house she tends. Playwright Ruhl, one of the most imaginative new voices in the American theater, was also awarded a MacArthur “Genius” grant this year.

Deep Dish is located in Chapel Hill's University Mall, on Estes Drive and US 15-501. For reservations and information, call (919) 968-1515. Tickets for all performances, available for purchase beginning July 1, are $16, $14 for seniors, and $12 for students. During the summer months, the box office will be open afternoons Wednesdays through Saturdays
For more information, call (919) 968-1515 or visit the Deep Dish website at www.deepdishtheater.org.

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