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THE WILMA THEATER ANNOUNCES ITS 2000-2001 SEASON: FOUR SUBSCRIPTION PLAYS JOINED BY TWO PRESENTATIONS IN THE NEW WILMA2 SERIES For Immediate Release: April 27,
2000 Philadelphia, PA - Artistic Directors Blanka and Jiri Zizka will lead The Wilma Theater into an exciting 21st season, with four plays in the subscription series and two additional presentations in a mini-series called WILMA2. The Wilma will kick off the season with the U.S. Premiere of Robert William Sherwood's SPIN, directed by Blanka Zizka, from September 20 - October 22, 2000. Next up is a double-bill of one-acts: BLACK COMEDY by Peter Shaffer and THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND by Tom Stoppard. Jiri Zizka will direct these two productions together from November 22 - December 31, 2000. From February 28 - April 1, 2001, Blanka Zizka will direct PERFECT PIE by Judith Thompson, and the season will end with the Philadelphia Premiere of Steven Sondheim's PASSION directed by Jiri Zizka from May 16 - June 24, 2001. "The Wilma Theater's 21st season under Blanka and Jiri Zizka's leadership is certain to treat artists and audiences alike to a unique and wonderful theatrical experience," commented Board Chairman Ted Wolf. The Wilma Theater will also present two productions in limited runs in the new WILMA2 series. The WILMA2 season will include VELVETVILLE by comedian puppeteer Paul Zaloom from January 10 - 14, 2001, and THE GIMMICK by playwright and performance artist Dael Orlandersmith from April 4 - 15, 2001. "We are extremely excited to present Philadelphia audiences with the work of two compelling and unique artists. We feel that Paul Zaloom and Dael Orlandersmith, with their original, fresh and provocative pieces, are a perfect fit in the Wilma's season," says Wilma Artistic Director Blanka Zizka. MAIN SUBSCRIPTION SERIES SPIN will make its U.S. Premiere at The Wilma Theater from September 20 through October 22, 2000. In this timely and trenchant satire, emerging playwright Robert William Sherwood reveals the truth - or lack thereof - behind American politics. It's the night before the big debate and the day before the primary, and Jerry and Mary are locked in battle. These two spin-doctors will resort to anything - literally - to get their candidates elected. Scandals, allegations and insults fly as the hours tick by and a candidate's shot at the presidency hangs in the balance. London's Evening Standard said of the play, "Politics, like comedy, is a matter of timing, and writer Robert William Sherwood is a master. His analysis of the dirty, backbiting business of politics is raw, hilarious and right on the money." Robert William Sherwood is one of the producers of SummerWorks, a major Fringe Festival in Toronto. Four of his plays, Thugs, Drinking in Circles, Absolution and SPIN have received their World Premieres at the White Bear Theatre in London, each one of them earning a Time Out Critic's Choice. Absolution went on to a nomination for Best Fringe Play of 1997 from the Writer's Guild of Great Britain. BLACK COMEDY by Peter Shaffer and THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND by Wilma favorite Tom Stoppard will play November 22 through December 31, 2000. These one-act farces from two of Britain's most acclaimed writers come together for a single night of hilarity. In BLACK COMEDY, the fun begins when the lights go out. This uproarious work by the touted author of Amadeus has Brindsley and Carol running in circles trying to undo a series of faux pas that keeps her father, his neighbors and the audiences in stitches. THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND, an early Stoppard classic, is a dead-on spoof of Agatha Christie's country house murder mystery. And Stoppard doesn't just skewer the whodunit - he savages the people who think they really know what's going on: the critics. Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus won an Evening Standard and a Tony Award. The movie based on his play received 8 Oscars, including one for the author. Other works have played to great success in London and in New York including Equus, Five Finger Exercise, The Royal Hunt of the Sun and Lettice and Lovage. He was appointed Cameron Mackintosh Professor of Contemporary Theatre at St. Catherine's College, Oxford. Tom Stoppard was introduced to American audiences in 1967 with the Broadway hit, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which was followed by After Magritte, Jumpers, Travesties, Dirty Linen, New-Found-Land, Night and Day and Arcadia. His off-Broadway productions include Enter a Free Man and the double bill of Dogg's Hamlet and Cahoot's Macbeth. Tom Stoppard has written screenplays for the films Despair, The Romantic Englishwoman, The Human Factor, Brazil, Empire of the Sun, The Russia House, Billy Bathgate and received the Academy Award for his screenplay of Shakespeare in Love. The East Coast premiere of The Invention of Love played to enormous critical acclaim at The Wilma in February 2000, and is the best-attended show in the Wilma's 20-year history. From February 28 through April 1, 2001, Blanka Zizka will direct PERFECT PIE by Judith Thompson. After years of growing apart both spiritually and geographically, two childhood friends reunite for an afternoon of food, reminiscences and revelations. Patsy has created a full life as a wife and mother in the small farming town where they grew up, while Francesca moved to Toronto and became a famous stage and screen actress. As they remember their youth, they relive the events that tore them apart - and made them who they are today. Canada's celebrated Judith Thompson weaves language and theatricality to create what the Toronto Star called "her richly rewarding new masterpiece," a revelatory play that examines friendship, fear and the choices we make. Judith Thompson won the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award in 1991 for Lion in the Streets and in 1987 for I Am Yours and the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama for The Other Side of the Dark in 1989 and White Biting Dog in 1984. Currently she is a professor of Drama at the University of Guelph. The season will close with Steven Sondheim's PASSION, directed by Jiri Zizka, from May 16 through June 24, 2001. This lush and epic musical takes a poignant look at love. Army Captain Giorgio, deep in a passionate affair with Clara, is sent to a distant camp where he meets the ardent heart of Fosca, an ailing, unfortunate woman. As the play's inevitable events unfold affections shift, promises are made and broken, and no life is left untouched. Do we choose to love, or does love choose us? The New York Times called PASSION, winner of four Tony Awards including Best Musical, "hypnotic, rigorous, very risky... a major work." PASSION is a masterwork of Stephen Sondheim, the greatest living artist of the American musical theater, and the most ambitious musical ever to be produced at the Wilma. Steven Sondheim is the father of the modern American musical. He has won five Tony Awards for his scores of Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods. His career began with his lyrics for West Side Story in 1957. WILMA2 In VELVETVILLE, comedian puppeteer Paul Zaloom unleashes a low-tech, multi-media three-ring circus featuring cheesy black velvet paintings, projected animations and found objects uniquely operated as puppets. Zaloom, who has worked with the Bread and Puppet Theater since 1971, has had his one-of-a-kind work seen in 40 states and throughout Europe. He is currently featured on the television show Beakman's World. VELVETVILLE will take you for a 90-minute ride of political and social fantasy from January 10 to 14, 2001. Zaloom last appeared at the Wilma in the mid-80s to great critical acclaim. Playwright and performance artist Dael Orlandersmith will be in residence at the Wilma from April 4 to 15, 2001, presenting one of her highly acclaimed shows. THE GIMMICK, a one-woman show tells the story of a girl finding her way out of a Harlem ghetto through love of literature. Dael is one of the freshest and bravest voices in American theater today. * * * * * * The Wilma Theater, coming off of the most successful season in its 20-year history, has grown to national and international prestige in the arts community. The Zizka's staging of George Orwell's 1984 was presented at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and at the Joyce Theater in New York. The Wilma co-produced Vaclav Havel's Temptation at Joseph Papp's Public Theater and a PBS broadcast of Largo Desolato, a feature film directed by Jiri Zizka, which was adapted by Tom Stoppard from Vaclav Havel's play. In Philadelphia, Zizka-led productions at The Wilma Theater has received 18 Barrymore Awards, more than any other theater, and have received high critical acclaim from The New York Times, The New York Post, Time Magazine, USA Today, The Washington Post and The Chicago Tribune. Subscription prices for the Wilma Theater's 2000-2001 season range from $92 to $168, with WILMA2 tickets priced at $20 each or both shows for $30. Single ticket prices for each production are from $27 to $50, with discounts available for groups of 10 or more and special rates for students, young adults under the age of 35 and seniors. Subscriptions are available at the Wilma Theater Box Office, Broad & Spruce Streets, by calling (215) 546-7824 or online at www.wilmatheater.org. ###
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