2008 Season
The Guys
by Ann Nelson
Directed by Susan Abrams
 Less than two weeks after the September 11th attacks, New Yorkers are still in shock. One of them, an editor named Joan, receives an unexpected phone call on behalf of Nick, a fire captain who has lost most of his men in the attack. He’s looking for a writer to help him with the eulogies he must present at their memorial services. Nick and Joan spend a long afternoon together, recalling the fallen men through recounting their virtues and their foibles, and fashioning the stories into memorials of words. In the process, Nick and Joan discover the possibilities of friendship in each other and their shared love for the unconquerable spirit of the city. As they make their way through the emotional landscape of grief, they draw on humor, tango, the appreciation of craft in all its forms---and the enduring bonds of common humanity. THE GUYS is based on a true story.
The Birthday Partyby Harold Pinter
Directed by Francis Arnold Daley
 “The Birthday Party” is set in a seedy boarding house, run by a couple in their sixties. There is only one boarder, Stanley, a scruffy, depressed looking man in his thirties who has apparently been a professional pianist. Three figures arrive from the outside world: Lulu, Goldberg and McCann. Their motives are murky; then it becomes clear that they have come to wreak vengeance upon Stanley for a past misdemeanor. A birthday party is given for Stanley, although he vehemently denies it is his birthday. A major theme is the struggle for power which exists in all human relationships. Pinter brilliantly portrays this struggle in the most ordinary of domestic environments: he simply parts the curtains and lets the audience observe.
 “Pygmalion” is unquestionably Shaw’s most popular play. It is concerned with the entire role of class and birth; after all, the way one speaks is an accident of birth. That it should “classify” a person for life and limit economic opportunity is perhaps pitiful. The characters are larger than life and unforgettable. “Pygmalion” has been performed since 1914 and is one of the most delightful plays to emerge from the 20th century.
 Tea at Five captures the fiery spirit of Katharine Hepburn in a one-woman show, recounting her journey from a well-heeled Yankee childhood to winner of four Oscars. Ensconced in her beloved home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, we first see Ms. Hepburn in 1938, reflecting on the dizzying highs and emotional lows of her upbringing, having just been labeled “box office poison.” Fast-forward to 1983. Despite being injured in a car accident, the feisty redhead’s convalescence affords her with time to reminisce about her adventures in show business, including her heartbreaking romance with Spencer Tracy. Lombardo’s play unveils to audiences a previously unpainted portrait of one of the great legends of the silver screen that is intuitive, provocative, and at times, downright funny.
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