Item Description

Aurora Theatre Company provides a nurturing environment for theatre artists and artisans to produce and develop plays that place a high value on substance, intelligence, and craft. We strive to enrich the lives of our audience by producing high-quality, thought-provoking work that shines in an intimate setting.

AFTER THE REVOLUTION

by Amy Herzog | directed by Joy Carlin | AUG/SEPT 2013

What happens when the people you revere aren't who you think they are? Recent law school graduate Emma Joseph proudly carries the torch of her family’s Marxist tradition by running a nonprofit organization dedicated to the memory of her blacklisted grandfather. But when a newly published book reveals shocking truths about the man, the entire family is forced to confront questions of honesty and allegiance they thought long ago resolved. Winner of the NY Time’s Outstanding Playwright Award for this play, Amy Herzog’s play 4000 Miles was a recent hit at A.C.T.

“After the Revolution … crackles with intelligence and is laced with welcome wit. I was thoroughly captivated throughout.” - Backstage

 A BRIGHT NEW BOISE

by Samuel D. Hunter  |  directed by Tom Ross  |  NOV/DEC 2013

Winner of the 2011 Obie Award for Playwriting, Samuel D. Hunter’s A Bright New Boise is an unexpected comedy about faith, family and the importance of making human connections. In the break room of a Hobby Lobby craft store in Idaho, the seemingly innocuous Will, who has fled his rural hometown after a scandalous tragedy involving his fundamentalist church, applies for a job. Will doesn’t particularly want to work there but he is a man on a mission – to bond with his estranged son before the impending Rapture. By enlisting the aid of his new co-workers, a group of eccentric characters also struggling to find their way, can Will succeed in winning the trust of his son before the end of the world?

“This clear-eyed comedy will lift your heart.” - Time Out New York

 GIDION'S KNOT

By Johnna Adams | Directed by Jon Tracy | JAN/MAR 2014

Can you untangle Gidion’s Knot? A parent/teacher conference begins as a mystery with a mother seeking answers as to why her son, Gidion, has been suspended from his 5th grade class. The teacher is apprehensive until their discussion develops into a dramatically charged collision of freedom of expression, the failure of our school system, bullying and personal responsibility.Gidion’s Knot is a heart-wrenching, adult-oriented drama by Princess Grace Award winner, Johnna Adams. Published in total in American Theatre Magazine and a finalist for this year’s Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award, Gidion’s Knot is a visceral provocative theatre experience unlike any other and sure to promote heated debate. FOR MATURE AUDIENCES 

“Heart-stopping… the show has pathos and suspense in bucketloads.” - Washingtonian Magazine

 WITTENBERG

by David Davalos | directed by Josh Costello | APR/MAY 2014

Poor Prince Hamlet! It’s the beginning of another fall semester at the University of Wittenberg and Hamlet (senior, class of 1518) is returning from a summer spent studying astronomy with Copernicus in Poland. The revelation that the sun does not rotate around the earth has left him shaken and he needs to make a choice. As the Prince ping-pongs between the contrary advice his teachers Martin Luther (Professor, theology) and Doctor Faustus (Professor, philosophy), the two intellectuals go head to head in comic combat for the conflicted Dane’s allegiance. Will Faustus win the young man’s mind or can Luther win his soul?

“… a delightful romp that’s as accessible as it is thought-provoking. Tom Stoppard, eat your heart out.” - New York Post

 AMERICAN BUFFALO

by David Mamet | directed by Barbara Damashek | JUN/JUL 2014

This is the play that put David Mamet on the map as a major American playwright when it appeared on Broadway in 1977, winning the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best American Play. And yes, this is also the play that earned Mamet a reputation for creating expletive laden dialogue. Set in an urban junk shop, three small time crooks make plans to rob a man of his coin collection, including what they believe to be an extremely valuable “Buffalo nickel.” However, as the night goes on, motivations change, loyalties squirm and shift and paranoia rises to generate heart-pounding drama. FOR MATURE AUDIENCES

“American Buffalo remains a gleefully flinty slice of burnt-out life: taut, funny and, in the end, surprisingly touching.” - Washington Post

Special Added Attraction in Harry’s Upstage in the Dashow Wing

 THE LETTERS

by John W. Lowell | directed by Mark Jackson | APR/MAY 2014

In The Letters, a Ministry Director calls his employee Anna into his office for a job-related interview, but it is 1931 in the Soviet Union and things are not what they seem. Is Anna being offered a promotion? Is the Director making a sexual advance? The Director seems to have a hidden agenda – or is it Anna who has an agenda of her own? The Letters is a suspenseful cat and mouse game that grows more menacing as the seconds tick away. This taut thriller by NY playwright John W. Lowell has been a hit in both LA and Chicago and with this production we are pleased to inaugurate Harry’s Upstage in the Dashow Wing as a theatre performance space.

“A duel of wits at the crossroads of art and politics …” - LA Times

Item Special Note

* Opening nights excluded, co-productions exlcuded, and reservations required.  Subject to availability.  High school audience and above only, no shows suitable for young children. Expires on September 30, 2013