FAU Announces Summer Repertory Shows for 2021

Florida Atlantic University’s Summer Repertory Theatre will look a bit different this summer.  The Department of Theatre is partnering with FAU Theatre Lab to present six socially distanced live theater readings with the theme of award-winning and original work in the performing arts. The Department of Theatre will present four productions that are Pulitzer/ATCA nominated, and Theatre LAB will present two new works from The Fair Play Initiative, a commission and development program for new plays about LGBTQ+ stories and experiences.

The plays will take place weekly from Sunday, June 13 through Sunday, July 18 (except Sunday, July 4) in the newly renovated University Theatre.  Tickets will be limited to 70 per performance, and a maximum of four per group to ensure the safety of patrons and students on campus.  The productions will be offered as a free experience as FAU welcomes patrons back to campus and back to live theater.

Ticket reservations and safety protocols are available on the FAU Department of Theatre and Dance website at www.fau.edu/theatre. Please note that the box office will not be selling tickets for this production.  

The lineup is as follows:

Sunday, June 13, 3 p.m. “Everybody” by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. This 2017 Pulitzer Prize finalist is a freely adapted version of the 15th century morality play “Everyman.” The cast members represent somebody, friendship, love, kinship, cousinship and stuff.  When somebody faces imminent death, the choice between the other characters is complicated. Directed by Elizabeth Price.

Sunday, June 20, 3 p.m. “Sweat” by Lynn Nottage. The 2018 Pulitzer Prize winning play examines the collision of race, class, family and friendship at a pivotal moment in America.  A group of friends in Reading, Pennsylvania have spent their lives sharing secrets and laughs on the factory floor.  When layoffs begin to chip away at their trust, they are pitted against each other in the hard fight to stay afloat.  Directed by Karen Stephens.

Sunday, June 27, 2 p.m. “Blood Sisters” by Andie Arthur. This new audio play presentation revolves around Cindy who is barely out of the closet, even to herself. She tells herself that maybe, just maybe, if she tries hard enough, she will be able to find a man she can love. Jaq is a “self‐proclaimed man‐hating dyke.” She swore off dealing with men years ago. Even gay men are beneficiaries of the patriarchy and act like it.

It's 1981. An unexpected epidemic is hitting the gay community and while fear abounds, the government is doing nothing to help. Doctors are refusing to see patients, and there are major blood shortages. Can Cindy and Jaq overcome their antipathy to work together to help those in need and through helping those in need help themselves?  Directed by Matt Stabile

Sunday, June 27, 4:30 p.m. “Versace Era” by Juan C. Sanchez. This new audio play is  about gay life in the 1990s in South Beach. This golden time with extravagant parties, glamour and celebrities became known as the Versace era because the famous and beloved designer took residence at Casa Casuarina in 1992. His death symbolized the end of those golden days -- and the end of refuge -- for many South Beach residents.

Set in 1997 in a fictional cafe on Ocean Drive, the play follows the lives of several restaurant employees and guests as they come together to mourn the designer’s tragic end and confront what it means to them and their community. As they work, eat, drink and mourn, their personal stories, interactions and conversations reveal a picture of resilience, celebration, pride, communion and unity. Directed by Matt Stabile

Sunday, July 11, 3 p.m. “The Wolves” by Sarah DeLappe. This 2017 Pulitzer Prize finalist is a portrait of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for nine American girls who want to score on the soccer field.  Over the course of a season’s triumphs and defeats, the team takes to the field in this comic and bracing portrait of young women coming of age in contemporary America. Directed by Margert M. Ledford

Sunday, July 18, 3 p.m. “The Book of Will” by Lauren Gunderson. This play was the winner of the 2018 Steinberg/ATCA New Play award.  Just three years after William Shakespeare’s death, botched and pirated versions of his plays are appearing all over London. His friends and company members can see just one solution: printing an official version of all his plays in a single folio edition in order to preserve them and ensure their future. They may not have any money or clear-cut rights to his work, but they’re armed with wit, humor a deep camaraderie and a passion to preserve the plays that shaped their lives. With the help of their wives and colleagues, two actors set out not only to print a collection, but to uphold a legacy for the world.  Directed by Matt Stabile.

A portion of this program was made possible by a grant from Our Fund Foundation, an LGBTQ Community Foundation. FAU programs are sponsored in part by the Board of County Commissioners, the Tourist Development Council and the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County.