2017 Season, Agape Theatre
Agape Theatre is proud to announce that after a yearlong hiatus, they will return to producing intimate, quality theatre in Williamson County in 2017.
This spring, Agape Theatre will mount the Texas Premiere production of BONHOEFFER’S COST, a WWII drama by Mary Ruth Clarke with Time Gregory. BONHOEFFER’S COST tells the exciting and moving true story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. A Lutheran pastor and theologian in Germany during WWII, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was extremely vocal in his resistance to the Nazi dictatorship, including the Nazi persecution of the Jews. Out of his resistance to the Nazi regime and their attempted control of the religious community, Bonhoeffer founded the underground Confessing Church. He was also a member of the Abwehr, a German military intelligence organization at the center of the anti-Hitler resistance. In addition to his political resistance, Bonhoeffer is known for writing countless books and essays on theology and Christianity, especially The Cost of Discipleship.
BONHOEFFER’S COST finds Dietrich Bonhoeffer imprisoned in Berlin’s Tegel Prison. As the war rages around him and his faith is tested, Bonhoeffer deliberates the cost attached to acting from one’s convictions. In a blind race between the forces of good and evil, will Dietrich make it out alive?
Written by Mary Ruth Clarke with Tim Gregory, BONHOEFFER’S COST had its World Premiere at the Provision Theater Company in Chicago in October, 2011 and was recently produced by the Beacon Theatre in Philadelphia. Agape Theatre’s production marks the play’s Texas Premiere.
“We are overjoyed to bring BONHOEFFER’S COST to our audience,” says Jeff Davis, Artistic Director of Agape Theatre. “When we were forced to take a break from producing back in 2015 due to venue issues, we had just started rehearsing BONHOEFFER’S COST. We were excited about it, and our patrons were already buying seats. While he’s well-known amongst Lutherans, Bonhoeffer is nearly forgotten in other circles. Regardless of your religious affiliation, Bonhoeffer’s bravery and heroism is undeniable. We know our audience was and still is interested in seeing this play, and we are still very excited to be the first theater company in Texas to produce this show. I know it will keep our patrons on the edge of their seats.”
In the fall of 2017, Agape Theatre will produce the World Premiere of THE YELLOW WALLPAPER, written by Jeff Davis and inspired by the 1892 short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. THE YELLOW WALLPAPER tells the story of a young woman, Jane, as she grapples with a severe depression which John, her physician/husband, laughs off as a “slight hysterical tendency.” Secluded in a small room and under her John’s domineering care, Jane slowly loses grip on her sanity, especially as she becomes increasingly obsessed with the room’s yellow wallpaper. This Gothic-era psychological thriller is not to be missed.
poster
“As Agape’s Artistic Director and as the playwright behind this work, THE YELLOW WALLPAPER is incredibly special to me,” says Davis. “For our company, this production will mark the first time we’ve produced a completely new play that has never been seen anywhere else, and as this is the first play I’ve ever written, it’s a huge milestone for me personally to see it produced.” Though the play recently received a successful one-night-only Workshop Production at the Georgetown Public Library, the 2017 production will be very different. “The Workshop Production of THE YELLOW WALLPAPER allowed us to test out the script in front of an audience and allowed our patrons to get a glimpse at a work in progress,” says Davis. “While that production was a success and the show was embraced by our audience, the version we’ll produce in 2017 will be a bit different. We plan on taking the feedback we’ve received and we’ll continue to edit and refine the play. What we’ll produce in 2017 will be shorter, more suspenseful, and in some ways even closer to the themes and motifs found in the beloved short story. The show will also feature sets, costumes, and special effects that were not seen in the Workshop Production.”
While BONHOEFFER’S COST and THE YELLOW WALLPAPER are two very different plays tackling two different subjects, there is an interesting element that ties them both together. “Both BONHOEFFER’S COST and THE YELLOW WALLPAPER feature incredibly dynamic and resilient protagonists who are oppressed, beaten down, and imprisoned by the world and people around them,” says Davis, “but despite the seemingly insurmountable odds, both protagonists rise up and keep fighting. That commonality between the two protagonists is one of the many reasons why we chose these two plays for our 2017 Season, and I know our audience will be moved and inspired by these stories.”
Agape Theatre may also add additional productions and special events to its 2017 Season. “If the stars align and we can find the right play, the right venue, and the right cast and creative team, we’d love to produce an additional show or two as part of our 2017 Season,” says Davis. “We would be delighted to add one more production to our season, but at the very least, the success of the Workshop Production of THE YELLOW WALLPAPER proved that our audience will flock to a staged reading of a new work. Playwrights all over the world send us new, unproduced and unpublished plays daily, and we believe that new work deserves recognition and visibility. It is likely that our 2017 Season will include one or two staged readings produced as special one-night-only events.”
More information, including venues and performance dates, will be announced at a later date. For more information, please visit www.agapetheatre.org or call 512-88-STAGE.
BONHOEFFER’S COST and THE YELLOW WALLPAPER feature situations and language that may not be suitable for audience members under the age of 13. Parental discretion is advised.
About Agape Theatre- Agape means “unconditional love,” and at Agape Theatre, we exist, first and foremost, to unconditionally entertain. We strive to produce quality, thought-provoking theater about universal themes regarding the human condition while simultaneously providing young performers and artists a safe environment in which to hone their craft. But first, we entertain.