Everyman Theatre Founder and Artistic Director Vincent M. Lancisi recently announced the Baltimore company’s 2021/22 six-play season. The organization’s return to live theater features stories from a wide range of authors and perspectives, while continuing to offer digital access.
The 2021 performances will include Robert Harling’s beloved Steel Magnolias, Flyin’ West by poet, playwright, and activist Pearl Cleage, and The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder. In 2022, Everyman offers Jacqueline E. Lawton’s passionate and daring play Behold, A Negress, Kate Hamill’s adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, and world premiere comedy Crying on Television by playwright, author, internet sensation, and Baltimore native R. Eric Thomas.
Managing Director Marissa LaRose says, “The pride we feel in getting here is greater than we could have imagined. After spending a year like no other, pivoting our season and our education programs to a virtual platform, we are ready to welcome the community back in person. This year has challenged us, and made a stronger Everyman — we are ready to throw open the doors!” According to Vincent Lancisi, “These six plays feel like the perfect antidote and response to the past year. They were chosen for theater lovers to welcome us all back. There are comedies both classic and new and dramas from different ages — and the voices are diverse, with the theme of looking at history through a fresh lens. We can’t wait to see audiences in our lobbies and in their seats.”
Productions
(Every show in the 2021/22 season will be live on stage and also have a digital/Video-on-Demand streamable version.)
Steel Magnolias – August 10 to September 5 live; August 27 to September 19 streaming
By Robert Harling, directed by Casey Stangl
In a beauty parlor in northern Louisiana, life is anything but boring. Over the course of three years, six inimitable women share their lives with wit, warmth, humor, and intelligence, through the highest highs and the lowest lows. A perennial fan favorite of stage and film, Steel Magnolias celebrates the everyday power of female friendship.
Flyin’ West – October 5 to October 31
By Pearl Cleage, directed by Paige Hernandez
Reflecting themes of racism, feminism, pride, and freedom, Pearl Cleage (playwright, novelist, political activist, and first poet laureate of Atlanta), tells the story of four determined African American women whose lives are forever changed when the West opens up for discovery by people willing to settle in this harsh and unknown region.
The Skin of Our Teeth – December 7 to January 2
By Thornton Wilder, directed by Noah Himmelstein
This Pulitzer Prize winner combines farce, burlesque, and satire, depicting the Antrobus family of Excelsior, New Jersey, who narrowly escape one cataclysmic disaster after another. Whether he’s inventing the alphabet or saving the world from apocalypse, George Antrobus and his formidable family somehow manage to survive, but only by the skin of their teeth!
Behold, A Negress – February 1 to February 27
By Jacqueline E. Lawton
Set in Paris at the beginning of Napoleon’s reign, Lawton’s play imagines an intimate relationship between a real-life painter and her muse, a formerly enslaved black woman. A passionate and daring examination of the challenges of intersectional feminism and the role of art during times of social unrest and political upheaval.
Sense and Sensibility – April 5 to May 1
Adapted by Kate Hamill, based on the novel by Jane Austen
Both hilarious and heartbreaking, this fun, fast, and playful adaptation of Austen’s beloved classic follows the fortunes (and misfortunes) of the Dashwood sisters — sensible Elinor and hypersensitive Marianne — after their father’s sudden death leaves them penniless and socially vulnerable. When reputation is everything, how do you follow your heart?
Crying On Television – May 31 to June 26
By R. Eric Thomas, directed by Reginald L. Douglas
This world premiere comedy from Thomas, a Baltimore-based writer, humorist, and internet sensation, is both laugh-out-loud funny and beguilingly sweet. It’s a platonic rom-com about four strangers in an apartment building, the notion of loving TV characters as much as your real friends, and trying to form genuine friendship connections as adults. Everyman Theatre received a $25,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support the play’s ongoing development, including staged readings and workshops throughout the year, culminating with the World Premiere mainstage production.
Tickets
Single tickets for in-person performances of Steel Magnolias are on sale now and start at $29. Six- and five-show subscriptions for the newly announced 2021/22 season start at $99 and are also available. Video on Demand (VOD) streaming access for Steel Magnolias runs August 27 through September 19 and is on sale now at $30 per household, allowing for an unlimited number of viewers from home by visiting everymantheatre.org or calling 410.752.2208. Box office hours are Monday – Friday from 9am until 6pm and Saturdays from 10am until 5pm.
Everyman Theatre is a professional Equity theater company with a Resident Company of Artists from the Baltimore/DC area. Founded in 1990 by Vincent M. Lancisi, they are dedicated to engaging the audience through seeking connection and emotional truth in performance. Everyman is committed to presenting high-quality plays that are affordable and accessible to everyone. They strive to engage, inspire, and transform artists, audiences, and communities through theater of the highest artistic standards. Everyman Theatre stands in solidarity with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, and AAPI communities, and is committed to an equitable, diverse, and inclusive atmosphere at every level of the organization.
