By Lynn R. Mitchell
“Nestled among the stands of towering oak trees and rhododendrons, reposes one of our area’s most brilliant theatrical jewels and valuable community resources.” Oak Grove Theater, founded on land donated by Fletcher and Margaret Collins, continues with its summer season of plays held under the oak trees of Augusta County every summer since 1954.
The 2015 season lineup looks like another summer of fun and entertainment under the Shenandoah Valley stars just has it has been the past 60 years. Following is a description of the five plays followed by details about tickets and more information. See you under the oaks!
Oak Grove Theater’s 2015 Season Schedule
CORPSE!
By Gerald Moon
Directed by Michael Lafferty and produced by Sam Koogler
Corpse! is set in London in 1936, and tells the story of twin brothers, one of whom plots to murder the other in the most unusual circumstances. Evelyn, an out of work actor, engages the genial Irishman Powell, with a shady past, to do away with his suave, sophisticated, monied twin. Their plotting in Evelyn’s Aladdin’s cave of a flat is punctuated by the visits of a delightfully theatrical landlady. As with most fool proof plans, things do not go as they should and people are not what they seem. Corpse! is not so much a whodunnit as a whodunnit to whom!
Other Desert Cities
by Jon Robin Baitz
Directed by Greg A. Beam and produced by Jennifer L. Jones
Brooke Wyeth returns home to Palm Springs after a six-year absence to celebrate Christmas with her parents, her brother, and her aunt. Brooke announces that she is about to publish a memoir dredging up a pivotal and tragic event in the family’s history – a wound they don’t want reopened. In effect, she draws a line in the sand and dares them all to cross it.
SPAMALOT
By Eric Idle and John Du Prez
Directed by Aaron Crosby and produced by Beverly Crosby
Spamalot is lovingly ripped off from the 1975 classic film comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian Legend, but it differs from the film in many ways. Spamalot is the award-winning Broadway musical with a book and lyrics by Eric Idle and an entirely new score created by Eric Idle and John Du Prez.
The Cripple of Inishmaan
by Martin McDonagh
Directed by John Fregosi and
produced by Donna Gee and Elizabeth Kemp
In this savagely funny, award-winning play, the local inhabitants are excited to find a major documentary movie is being filmed on a nearby island. Many dream of landing a role, including a local crippled boy who longs to escape his dreary existence for a shot at Hollywood stardom. Warning: This play contains strong language.
Don’t Dress for Dinner
by Marc Camoletti and Robin Hawdon
Directed by Ben Hoiuseknecht and producer TBA
Bernard is planning a romantic weekend with his chic Parisian mistress in his charming converted French farmhouse, whilst his wife, Jacqueline, is away. He has arranged for a cordon bleu cook to prepare gourmet delights, and has invited his best friend, Robert, along too to provide the alibi. It’s foolproof; what could possibly go wrong? Well… suppose Robert turns up not realizing quite why he has been invited. Suppose Robert and Jacqueline are secret lovers, and consequently determined that Jacqueline will NOT leave for the weekend. Suppose the cook has to pretend to be the mistress and the mistress is unable to cook. Suppose everyone’s alibi gets confused with everyone else’s. An evening of hilarious confusion ensues as Bernard and Robert improvise at breakneck speed.
Ticket Policy
5 Great Shows – $60 per person
Buy Season Tickets Online
The season begins the last weekend in May and ends the last weekend in August. Patrons must subscribe to the entire 5 play season. Single play tickets are not available.
NOTE: Tickets to individual shows are NOT SOLD! Oak Grove Theater only sells tickets for the entire five show season. A subscriber must buy tickets for all five of the season’s plays before the season begins, or purchase season tickets at the gate during the first show.
For more info visit our website here:
Oak Grove Theater
LynnRMitchell.com 