Murphys Creek Theater 2013 line-up

Murphys Creek Theatre is excited to announce the 2013 season lineup. This year MCT will split our time between two shows at the Black Bart Playhouse, 580 S. Algiers St. in Murphys, and 2 shows at the Cornelia B. Stevenot Memorial Amphitheater, 2690 San Domingo Rd., also in Murphys. MCT's 19th season is full of laughs coming from 4 lively comedies that will please the whole family. The season begins with the fast paced farce, “Rough Crossing”, at the Black Bart Playhouse. Moving to the amphitheater for the summer, MCT's season continues with one of Shakespeare's best loved comedies, “Much Ado about Nothing”. The third offering in the season is the irreverent spoof of all of Shakespeare's canon, “The Compleat Wks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged) [Revised]”. Closing the 2013 season MCT will create a mirthful parody of "The Adventures of Robin Hood", a British Panto.


Opening April 19th will be Tom Stoppard’s hilarious farce, “Rough Crossing”. Set in the thirties, the co-authors, composer and cast of a musical comedy destined for Broadway are trying to both rehearse and finish writing the play while on board a transatlantic ocean liner. But when the lead actress is caught in a “compromising” situation, the composer refuses to finish the play leaving the co-authors scheming to convince him it was all a misunderstanding. Tom Stoppard’s unique and hilarious play is a fast paced, hysterical adaptation of Ferenc Molnar’s classic farce, “The Play at the Castle”. This will be MCT’s take on a wonderfully witty and insightful adaptation of one of the world’s best known comedies by one of the world’s greatest modern playwrights. “Rough Crossing” will run through May 19th at the Black Bart Playhouse.

In June MCT will be moving to our beautiful outdoor venue, The Cornelia B. Stevenot Memorial Amphitheater, for the “Theatre Under the Stars”  program, opening with one of William Shakespeare’s most popular comedies, “Much Ado About Nothing”. The story opens with soldiers returning from war, some of whom carry the invisible scars of conflict, something relevant these days. But the play is ultimately a comedy in which a band of pranksters conspire to bring Beatrice and Benedick, two of the sharpest wits to grace literature, together at the alter. “Much Ado” will play Friday and Saturday evenings at 8pm from June 21st through July 20th.

The second show of the summer is the well-known and very, very funny spoof of Shakespeare and literary pretension, “The Compleat Wks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged) [Revised]”, by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield. Three guys, one dead playwright, and thirty-seven plays, all in under two hours. The whole family will enjoy watching three talented actors, armed with an outrageous assortment of outerwear and props, cram the Bard’s entire canon of plays (and sonnets) into 90 minutes of high-speed, over-the-top hilarity. “Compleat Wks” plays Friday and Saturday nights at 8pm from August 2nd through September 1st.

The final show of our 2013 season is a departure for MCT and this area, “The Adventures of Robin Hood, a British Panto”. The story of Robin Hood is well known but in MCT’s Holiday production it is given a twist. British Panto is a completely different genre than the pantomime of Marcel Marceau with which so many of us are familiar. In fact, it is quite the opposite. British Panto is an art form borne out of the raucous music halls of 19th century England that begins with a well-known story and roasts it. Panto is full of comics and cross dressers, locals and laughs. The show promises to be a blast of high energy humor in this hilarious original holiday entertainment for the whole family. “The Adventures of Robin Hood, a British Panto” plays Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday matinees from November 29th through December 22nd.

In addition to the 4 plays presented in the 2013 season, Murphys Creek Theatre continues our renowned educational program, “The Mirror Project.” In addition to dance, voice and improvisation classes, the Mirror Project students will perform their own version of “Much Ado about Nothing”. The Mirror Project classes meet Monday through Friday from 9am to 1pm beginning June 24th. The program culminates with two public performances of the students' version of “Much Ado” on July 22nd and 23rd. Both performances begin at 7pm.

Tickets for the 2013 season including our special season subscription package are available now by calling (209) 728-8422 or online at http://www.murphyscreektheatre.org .