For Immediate Release

Theatre Three’s 2008-2009 Subscription Season Announcement

Theatre Three is staging a world tour of theatre during the 2008-2009 season. Beginning in July 2008 with the comic mayhem of a garden festival at an English manor house, the season concludes in June 2009 with the harrowing drama of a South African courtroom. The shows between include a homegrown military drama, a romantic musical set in Florence, a witty Spanish Golden Age comedy, a modern French flirtatious farce, and a classic mystery set on the Nile River. Theatre Three’s 2008-2009 subscription season begins July 10, 2008 and concludes June 14, 2009. HOUSE by Sir Alan Ayckbourn July 10 - August 10 House is one of two comedies intended to be performed simultaneously by the same cast in two adjacent theatre spaces. House and its counterpart comedy, Garden, were huge theatrical hits when performed in two of the spaces at The Royal National Theatre in London. Though each of the plays is complete in and of itself, the characters move between the house (Theatre Three) and the garden (Theatre Too), fitting perfectly into the puzzle plots of the two funny shows. Subscribers will be seated in Theatre Three for HOUSE as part of their subscription. As part of their subscription benefit, subscribers get half-priced admissions to GARDEN and other Theatre Too productions of the 2008-2009 Season. DEFIANCE sizzling drama by John Patrick Shanley September 4 - October 5 Set on a United States Marine Corps base in North Carolina in 1971, three officers (the commander, his black executive officer and the new base chaplain) are on a collision course over race, women, and authority – both military and moral authority. In this play, Pulitzer winning Shanley fills the drama with provocative tensions between the military mindset, the pro and anti war turmoil of the times, the complexities of race, and tests of loyalties and loves. THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA music by Adam Guettel, book by Craig Lucas October 23 - November 23 Few Broadway musicals have ever inspired the admiration of critics and audiences as thoroughly as this sublime romantic story set in Italy. Its long-running Lincoln Center production garnered an armload of awards including six prestigious Tonys. Set in the 1950s, a youthful Italian lad is doted on by his Tuscan family. His passions are deeply stirred by a beautiful American tourist, accompanied by her protective mother. When it turns out there are more significant barriers than language to the match, the American mother and Italian family must put aside cherished beliefs if their beloved children can seek happiness together. TRYSTS IN TOLEDO (LOS EMPEÑOS DE UNA CASA) by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, new English language version by Jac Alder December 11 - January 18 In the late sixteen hundreds, witty cloak and dagger romances set the fashion for the Golden Age of Spanish literature. These entertaining plays were filled with wit, intellect and mischievous humor that thoroughly delighted the Spanish playgoers. Trysts in Toledo follows the romantic confusions of a houseful of young nobles and their roguish servants. Astonishingly, one of the greatest literary figures of that time was a nun, Sor Juana, living in “New Spain” which we now call Mexico. Her work displays verbal ingenuity; a dizzyingly complex plot played at top speed, and shamelessly wears its fun-making on its sleeve. A passionate advocate of women’s rights, Sor Juana has a unique position both in secular literature and in the church. DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER breakneck farce by Marc Camoletti, English language version by Robin Hawdon February 5 – March 8 Infidelities and frustrated couplings are a long French literary specialty. Moliere, Marivaux, and Feydeau abound with witty repartee as men scramble after women, and women delight in the pursuit. In this recent Paris (and London) hit, a very modern French husband is planning to host a dinner in his wife’s absence. The dinner is a prelude to a liaison with his mistress, a plan the husband has divulged to his best friend. But, surprise! Can you guess who the best friend has as his mistress? And who is this beguiling female chef sent to concoct the perfect seductive meal? MURDER ON THE NILE a 1930’s exotic mystery by Dame Agatha Christie March 26 - April 26 An elegant honeymoon cruise on the Nile for the attractive young aristocrats turns strange and dangerous with the surprise appearance of the young husband’s stalker. Despite both the protection of the bride’s guardian (who also embarks conveniently and unexpectedly) and the odd assemblage of other passengers pursuing solutions to ancient mysteries, perils mount for the giddy romantic couple. Before the doomed ship reaches its downriver destination, an audacious conspiracy roils the waters of the timeless river and lays bare the blackest hearts of criminal intrigue. LOST IN THE STARS book by Maxwell Anderson, music by Kurt Weill May 14 - June 14 Set in South Africa, this dramatic musical play (based on the celebrated novel Cry of the Beloved Country by Alan Payton) tells the story of a poor but deeply religious black pastor whose faith is supremely tested as he seeks to solve his son’s disappearance. He finds his son embroiled in desperate criminal acts of defiance; acts that bring him into a courtroom accused of murdering the son of a wealthy white landowner. This is a sweeping, epic tale crowned by an astonishing conclusion of racial reconciliation. The moving drama is framed by the magnificent music of Kurt Weill, showcasing thrilling soloists and splendid choristers.

For Further Information Contact: 2800 Routh Street, Suite 168, Dallas, Texas 75201 214-871-3300 admin@theatre3dallas.com 214-871-3139 www.theatre3dallas.com