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Malvern-based theatre company People’s Light (39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, PA 19355) announces the second half of the 2023/2024 season with three productions, including a world premiere and two regional premieres. Audiences can purchase subscription passes for Series 2 here. Single tickets to these upcoming productions will go on sale beginning March 5. Philadelphia theatre fans can look forward to a gripping series of captivating productions from nationally renowned, award-winning playwrights presented on the People’s Light stages.
Series 2 begins with the regional premiere presentation of Obie Award-winning play Hurricane Diane by Pulitzer Prize finalist Madeline George. Directed by People’s Light Associate Producing Director Molly Rosa Houlahan, the story centers on the Greek god Dionysus, who returns to Earth in the form of a permaculture gardener named Diane seeking to gather mortal followers and return Earth to its natural state – beginning with four housewives in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Hurricane Diane debuted at New York Theater Workshop in 2019 and was praised by The New York Times as “a perfect storm of timely tragicomedy.”
The summer at People’s Light continues with the world premiere of Off By One by Emmy Award-winning television writer Joseph Dougherty. Starring film and TV actor David Strathairn (The Cherry Orchard), the play explores the legacy of a little-known poet named Douglas Roote, and offers a thoughtful and powerful meditation on what connects people to one another. The production is directed by Executive Artistic Director Emeritus Abigail Adams and features People’s Light Company of Artists members Claire Inie-Richards (The Vinegar Tree), Aubie Merrylees (The Vinegar Tree), and Mary Elizabeth Scallen (Alice in Wonderland: A Musical Panto) rounding out the cast.
The Series 2 productions conclude with the regional premiere of Somewhere Over the Border by Brian Quijada. Presented as a co-production with City Theatre in Pittsburgh, the new musical is inspired by the true story of Quijada’s mother’s journey from El Salvador to the United States told through the framework of Wizard of Oz. The uplifting tale is infused with music from multiple genres, including cumbia, Mexican mariachi boleros, American rock, and hip-hop. Broadway World named Quijada “a rising star” for Somewhere Over the Border while onStage Pittsburgh hailed his latest work as “overflowing with heart and urgency.”
Before a show, attendees can also enjoy scratch cooking and theatrical sensibilities in the theatre’s on site restaurant, The Fern & Fable. Quality, artistry, and unique experiences are top of mind at the restaurant. Located steps away from the Leonard C. Haas Stage, The Fern & Fable occupies three rooms of a 1700s farmhouse, complete with two working fireplaces and historic quirks. During warmer months, guests dine al fresco among the lush gardens on the People’s Light campus. Learn more by visiting http://www.fernandfable.com.
Hurricane Diane – Written by Madeleine George (Regional Premiere)
May 1 to 19, Directed by Molly Rosa Houlahan
Presented on the Leonard C. Haas Stage
Meet Diane: a charming butch permaculture gardener with a mission. Secretly Dionysus— the god of wine, revelry, and vegetation—Diane returns to Earth to rally followers for an environmental revolution. Four mortal women are in dire need of a bacchanalian catharsis, and this clique of New Jersey housewives won’t know what hit them when Hurricane Diane makes landfall. Directed by Associate Producing Director Molly Rosa Houlahan and featuring Company Artists Teri Lamm (Lettie, The Vinegar Tree) and Julianna Zinkel (The Vinegar Tree, The Harassment of Iris Malloy), this hilarious parable of climate reckoning and liberation is “the perfect storm of timely tragicomedy” (New York Times).
Off By One – Written by Joseph Dougherty (World Premiere)
June 12 to July 7, 2024 Directed by Abigail Adams
Presented on the Steinbright Stage
A wrong-number text brings strangers together in a web of curiosity and memory, with magnetic poet Douglas Roote (multi-award winner David Strathairn, The Cherry Orchard) at the center. As two women bond over the late writer’s work, this gentle narrative explores questions of fate, coincidence, and the profound impact of a seemingly small life. In this poignant world premiere written by Emmy Award winner Joseph Dougherty, directed by Abigail Adams (Lettie, The Vinegar Tree) and featuring Company Artists Claire Inie-Richards (The Vinegar Tree), Aubie Merrylees (The Vinegar Tree), and Mary Elizabeth Scallen (Alice in Wonderland: A Musical Panto), Off By One grapples with the deeply human impulse to seek meaning and connection in the accidental and unknown.
Somewhere Over the Border – Books, lyrics, and music by Brian Quijada (Regional Premiere)
July 17 to August 11, 2024, Directed by Laura Alcalá Baker
Co-production with City Theatre
Presented on the Leonard C. Haas Stage
As the allure of the American Dream beckons, Reina Quijada travels along a very different yellow brick road from El Salvador to the United States. Along the way, she makes friends, dodges imminent danger, and searches for the almighty “wizard” in this nod to Oz. With onstage musicians weaving together cumbia, Mexican mariachi, boleros, American rock, and hip hop, up-and-coming writer and composer Brian Quijada honors his mother in a fantastically true tale of determination, family, and friendship. This co-production takes to the People’s Light stage following a critically acclaimed run at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre.
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