Co-artistic directors Scott Alan Evans, Cynthia Harris and Simon Jones announced Aug. 24 that beginning this fall, TACT will be presenting "two fully mounted productions at the Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row."
Two plays by British writers who came of age in the "angry young man" era have been announced for 2006-07.
The company will no longer make use of the Florence Gould Hall, where they have been presenting their "Concert Performance" productions for the past four seasons. The membership, which includes 47 performers, wanted to stretch its muscles more, executive director Scott Alan Evans told Playbill.com, adding that its earlier full stagings of Noel Coward's Long Island Sound and The Triangle Factory Fire Project were greeted with enthusiasm by company members and its loyal audiences.
TACT's hundreds of subscribers will pepper the 22-performance showcase runs of plays. Subscribers are no longer locked into a one-weekend performance schedule. Top ticket price for TACT works at the 99-seat Beckett will be $20. TACT will also continue its ticket outreach program to help those might not be able to afford theatre.
One of the goals of TACT from the beginning was to showcase the work of mid-career actors in productions that are not necessarily star-driven, and that continues. TACT draws from a pool of its own company of actors and also invites guest artists in. Launching TACT's new life at the Beckett Theatre Dec. 2-23 will be David Storey's enigmatic Home (1970), previously presented by TACT as a reading in March 2005. The cast will include Cynthia Darlow, Cynthia Harris, Simon Jones, Larry Keith and Ron McClary. Evans will direct.
The design team for Home includes Mimi Lien (set), Mary Louise Geiger (lighting), David Toser (costume) and Daryl Bornstein (sound).
The second main stage production, April 21-May 12, 2007, will be The Sea (1973) by Edward Bond. It's billed as "a thought-provoking and somewhat gothic comedy set in an English costal town in 1907."
TACT's studio at 900 Broadway will be utilized for the TACT Salon Series: six play readings to be presented throughout the season. TACT's Salon Series begins in September with The Late Christopher Bean by Sidney Howard and continues with Kind Lady by Edward Chodorov, The Chinese Prime Minister by Enid Bagnol, Man & Boy by Terence Rattigan, and Rain by John Colton & Clemence Randolph based on a story by W. Somerset Maugham. The series will conclude in May with Dandy Dick by Arthur Wing Pinero.
"TACT celebrates language, the actor, and the spoken word," according to its mission. "Founded by professional actors in 1992, TACT is dedicated to presenting neglected or rarely performed plays of literary merit with a focus on creating theatre from its essence: the text and the actor's ability to bring it to life."
For more information about the upcoming season, call the TACT offices at (212) 645-8228 or visit www.tactnyc.org.
