Studio 180 to Premiere Two Jewish-Themed Plays Next Season

After a successful 2009-10 season of two productions, Studio 180 Theatre announces its new season for 2010-11 – and both of them revolve around Jewish themes.

The first show will be the Canadian premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical Parade, in a co-production with Acting Up Stage Company (click here for our interview with Acting Up founder Mitchell Marcus). Written by Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry, Parade takes place in 1913 Atlanta, Georgia. After a teenaged factory employee is raped and murdered, Leo Frank, the young Jewish manager of the factory, is charged with the crime. Manipulating witnesses and tampering with evidence, the prosecution succeeds in convincing the jury that the wrongly accused Frank is guilty. Parade will run Dec. 20, 2010-Jan. 22, 2011 at the Berkeley Street Theatre Upstairs.

The second show will be the North American premiere of Olivier Award-nominated drama Our Class, produced in association with Canadian Stage. Written by Tadeusz Slobodzianek and translated into English by Ryan Craig, Our Class is based on true events. It is about agroup of schoolchildren, Jewish and Catholic, in Poland in 1925. As the children grow, their country is torn apart by invading armies, first Soviet and then Nazi. Internal grievances deepen as fervent nationalism develops. Friends betray each other and violence escalates until these ordinary people carry out an atrocious crime. Our Class will run Apr. 4-30, 2011 at the Berkeley Street Theatre Downstairs.

Both shows will be directed by Studio 180 artistic director Joel Greenberg. Single tickets to both shows will be available in the fall. For more information, visit www.studio180theatre.com.