Beowulf Alley Theatre presents

The 2013-2014 Season

September 6th through 22nd

In repertory

Desdemona: A Play About A Handkerchief

by Paul Vogel

As the wrongly accused and suffering wife of Shakespeare's tragic Moor, Othello, Desdemona has long been viewed as the "victim of circumstance." But as Pulitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel demonstrates in her comic deconstruction of Shakespeare's play—aligning tongue-in-cheek humor while raising serious questions as to the role of women through the ages—Desdemona was far from the quivering naïf we've all come to know. "Vogel remains one of the smartest, most original and engaging playwrights to come along in the last few years." —NY Newsday.

MacBeth’s Knife

by William Shakespeare

MacBeth is a war hero. The king is grateful and the people cheer. Yet when met by witches with dark prophecies, he turns slowly into one of literature’s greatest villains. Shakespeare's most ambitious couple meet their untimely end in this violent and sexy, cynical and witty, dark and redemptive tragedy of ambition. Directed by Nicole Scott and Michael Fenlason.

October 4th to 20th

Little Dog Laughed

by Douglas Carter Beane

Yes, we love the cinema for its great auteurs, its glorious faces and its daring images. But in this tabloid age where big stars go on Oprah and jump around like heartsick schoolboys, what we really love is all that dish! The players here include a hard-driving Hollywood agent, her budding screen idol client, a sexy young drifter, and the drifter's naive, needy girlfriend. THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED follows the adventures of Mitchell Green, a movie star who could hit big if it weren't for one teensy-weensy problem. His agent, Diane, can't seem to keep him in the closet. Trying to help him navigate Hollywood's choppy waters, the devilish Diane is doing all she can to keep Mitchell away from the cute rent boy who's caught his eye and the rent boy's girlfriend (wait, the rent boy has a girlfriend?). Will there be a happy ending as the final credits roll? "Theatergoers have cause to rejoice. Devastatingly funny, with dizzy, irresistible writing that brings down the house." —NY Times. Directed by Christopher Johnson and Susan Arnold.

November 8th through the 24th

Savage Bond

by Steve Holiday

When tragedy reunites six people the day before Thanksgiving, they come together to protect their departed mutual friend's assets from his greedy family. When the weather traps them together for the holiday and they find a journal filled with each of their secrets, they discover that dysfunction is universal, grief is humorous and heart-wrenching, and family is relative. Savage Bond is the 2012 Arizona Playwriting Award-winner by Steve Holiday and will be directed by  Katherine Monberg of Arizona Theatre Company.

January 3rd through 20th

Mallard and Mack

a musical

music by Mark Litton and Michael Fenlason

Lyrics by Julie Peterson, Michael Fenlason and Tom Blackwood

Book by Michael Fenlason

Hugh Mallard and Doug Mack changed the course of musical history with their innovative and thought-provoking musicals. No, that’s not true. Mallard and Mack, time and again, sent monstrously ridiculous shows to Broadway. While it’s true they adapted the work of Victor Hugo, it was not Les Miserables, it was The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Hit song? “I Gotta Hunch I’m Falling in Love!”). And while they did adapt the life of a great painter to the musical stage, it was certainly not Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George. It was the life of Van Gogh (Hit song: Tell me in My Good Ear”). While theoretically innovative, the two composers trounced the Broadway stage with closings so quick, audiences didn’t even stay for their intermission drink, The team produced dozens of accidentally hilarious musicals. This Zony-honored musical is a hilarious mockumentary of what can go horribly wrong when composing for the stage. “The audience literally could not stop laughing--” Arizona Republic. Directed by Michael Fenlason.

January 31st through February 16th

Don Juan and the Stone Guest

(El burlador Burlado)

adapted from  Tirso de Molina

Spanish Golden Age playwright Tirso de Molina’s visually arresting play of rebellious eros tells the rise and fall of Don Juan. Brought to the modern border region, Juan is a wealthy libertine bent on seduction, but his taunting at the grave of the father of one of his conquests leads to an unearthly surprise. Horrific and seductive, dark and sensual, Molina’s play breaks the bonds of theatre and introduces the great Seducer of Seville to the world. Directed by Josh Parra.

March 14th to the 30th

Tartuffe

by Moliere

Molière’s comic masterpiece brings us the hypocritical Tartuffe, a con artist extraordinaire who oozes piety and charm. Will his hypocrisy be discovered before Orgon’s family is turned on its head? This famous farce is a cautionary tale told with lightning-quick wit and hilarious farce, complete with star-crossed lovers, a badgering grandma and a plot that could be ripped from tomorrow’s Times.

April 4th through the 20th

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

By Rajiv Joseph

Set in the chaotic first days of the American invasion of Iraq, two US Marines and an Iraqi translator are thrust into a world of greed, mystery and betrayal after an encounter with a now-deceased but still very pissed-off tiger. The streets of war-torn Baghdad are filled with ghosts, riddles and wry humor in this ground-breaking play that explores the power and perils of human nature. "Savagely funny and visionary new work of American theater... A majestic, richly conceived play with fanciful humor and clear-eyed compassion” – The New York Times. Directed by Eva Tessler.