Palm Beach Dramaworks, West Palm Beach’s only professional, multi-award-winning resident theater, will launch its 14th season with Of Mice and Men on Friday, Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre (201 Clematis Street). The season will continue with a distinguished roster of plays, including The Lion in Winter, Old Times, Dividing the Estate and Tryst.
Subscription packets are on their way to patrons, but individual tickets do not go on sale until September. “Subscribing is the best way to ensure you will have tickets for the shows you want on the performance dates you prefer,” Managing Director Sue Ellen Beryl said. “Our subscribers really enjoy the flexibility of our four- or five-play programs with their many discounts and special privileges.”
Starting in mid-October, the 14th season brings to the stage one of the theater’s most acclaimed works, Of Mice and Men, by Nobel Prize–winning playwright John Steinbeck. Balancing humanity and dignity, Steinbeck’s poignant tale focuses on two migrant workers, George and his simple-minded friend Lennie, who dream of a better life. Of Mice and Men will run Oct. 11 through Nov. 10.
Following in December, there’s intrigue and subterfuge afoot when the curtain rises on James Goldman’s The Lion in Winter. Set in the court of King Henry II, the story centers on how his wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, and their three over-eager sons plot and counterplot to force the King to name his successor. The Lion in Winter will run Dec. 6 through Jan. 5, 2014.
The season will continue with Old Times by Harold Pinter, one of the most influential modern British playwrights. Drama unfolds in Pinter’s story when Kate’s old friend, Anna, unexpectedly visits after 20 years. Conflicting memories give way to intimations of a mysterious past and an uncertain present. Old Times will run Jan. 31 through March 2, 2014.
Broadway’s recent award-winning hit, Horton Foote’s comedy Dividing the Estate will be the season’s next offering in March. Times are tough for the Gordon family in this funny, astute play, but the matriarch of the clan has no intention of dividing her 100-year-old estate — even if her greedy children have other ideas. Dividing the Estate will run March 28 through April 27, 2014.
The season concludes with the psychological thriller Tryst by Karoline Leach. Leach’s suspenseful story follows the calculating and handsome con man who woos and marries vulnerable women, then takes all their money and runs — until he meets his match. Tryst will run May 16 through June 15, 2014.
The performance schedule is as follows: evening performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m. Matinee performances take place on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Post-performance discussions are available after Sunday evening and Wednesday matinee performances. For ticket information, call the box office at (561) 514-4042, open Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., or visit www.palmbeachdramaworks.org.
Palm Beach Dramaworks is a member of the Theatre Communications Group, the South Florida Theatre League, Southeastern Theatre Conference, Florida Professional Theatres Association, Florida Theatre Conference and the Palm Beach County Cultural Council.
