Silver Spring Stage is excited to announce its 2023/24 season, including the return of the One-Act Festival, modern and classic works, and even a musical.
September 22-October 1, 2023: 2023 One-Act Festival
The One-Act Festival returns for the first time since before the pandemic, with new works written and presented by regional playwrights.
October 27-November 12: Blue Stockings by Jessica Swale, directed by Eleanore Tapscott
The year is 1896. Few universities accept women at all; those that do consider them to be intellectually inferior to their male counterparts. The women pursuing academics are disdainfully labeled “Blue Stockings.” Cambridge University’s doors have opened to a cohort of excited and ambitious young women, but how will the institution adapt? Over the course of an academic year, we follow the journey of four female students as they fight for their right to graduate alongside their male counterparts.
January 26-February 11, 2024: Abdication! by Naya James, directed by Yvonne Paretzky
Abdication! is a triptych of one-act plays about tuning in (to cell phones) and dropping out (of jobs and relationships). Stuck is set in a society where people can enter a virtual reality of their choosing. In Love Lobotomy, two patients — who meet at a clinic to undergo a procedure to become immune to love — unexpectedly embark on a relationship instead. Color Scheme takes place in a dystopian near-future where everyone has been sorted into color-coded groups based on their personalities.
March 8-24: Dance Nation by Clare Barron, directed by Lee Blase
Somewhere in America, an army of pre-teen competitive dancers plots to take over the world. And if their new routine is good enough, they’ll claw their way to the top at the Boogie Down Grand Prix in Tampa Bay. In Clare Barron’s raucous pageant of ambition and ferocity, these young dancers have more than choreography on their minds.
April 19-May 5: A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, adapted and directed by Emma Hooks
In this beloved and fantastical comedy, four Athenians run away to the forest only to have Puck the fairy make both boys fall in love with the same girl. The four run through the forest, pursuing each other while Puck helps his master play a trick on the fairy queen. Meanwhile, a troupe of “rude mechanicals” put on a play of their own.
June 7-23: Assassins by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman, directed by Fred Zirm
Sondheim’s darkly comedic musical presents a revue of historical figures who attempted (successfully or not) to assassinate different presidents of the United States. The musical explores what the assassins’ presence in American history says about the ideals of their country. The score reflects both popular music of the various depicted eras and a broader tradition of “patriotic” American music.
