Jamespeak: Fall Preview

At the suggestion of Isaac Butler, some of the theatre bloggers have gotten together and decided to make today Fall Preview Day, where each blogger comes up with three plays coming up this fall that he or she would be interested in seeing.

As tempted as I was, I thought it would be unfair to mention Pete and Patrick's The Blood Brothers Present: An Evening of Grand Guignol Theatre, since technically it's a Nosedive show (true, I have very little to do with it and it's almost a spin-off side project, but still, having that be one of the three would be pretty lame of me).

So, here are three plays coming up that I'm thinking would be fun to see...

Wrecks. The general consensus in the theatre blogosphere is that it's blasphemy to admit to liking Neil LaBute's work. I'll recite my 10 Hail Marys some other time. In Neil LaBute's latest play, Ed Harris plays a recently widowed car salesman who may not be the innocent victim he portrays himself to be. Tickets are $50, which is a bit high for my price range, but not impossible. In previews Sept. 26, it officially opens October 10 at the Public Theatre on 425 Lafayette Street. Tickets can be bought here.

The Tooth of Crime. This is the very first play by Shepard I read, and I've never seen it. George Ferencz directs the play (based on La MaMa's 1983 production) about two rock stars — one stuck in the past, one willing to change with the times — facing off. (Okay, there's more to it than that, but really, you try to give an accurate plot description of a play by Sam Shepard and see how far you go.) I'm really curious to see this one on its feet. Tickets are $40. Opens October 3 at La MaMa on 74A East 4th Street. Tickets can be bought here.

In Public. No, this is not any sort of favoritism or political maneuvering to "get in good" with the other theatre bloggers. Isaac Butler directs George Hunka's play about two married couples over a long weekend in which desires may or may not be fulfilled. Played out in public spaces, the characters have to keep their public faces on, so the audience isn't drawn into their private spheres. Tickets are $18. Opens October 18 at the ManhattanTheatreSource on 177 MacDougal Street. Tickets can be bought here.

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I've already purchased by ticket for In Public, so I guess now I have to see if I can scam Isaac into getting me free tickets to these other shows (a la Pig Farm). Ah? Isaac? Buddy?

Cheap but enthusiastic,

James "Cultural Hobo" Comtois

Ps. To read the other Fall Previews from my fellow bloggers, click on their names below.