2022-2023 Season

FALL MAINSTAGE SHOW

Souvenir by Stephen Temperley
at Erin Presbyterian Church
Oct. 6, 7, 13, 14 @ 7:30 PM
Oct. 9 & 16 @ 2:30 PM

For more than half a century the name Florence Foster Jenkins has been guaranteed to produce explosions of derisive laughter. Not unreasonably so, as this wealthy society eccentric suffered under the delusion that she was a great coloratura soprano when she was in fact incapable of producing two consecutive notes in tune. Nevertheless, her annual recitals in the ballroom of the Ritz Carlton hotel brought her extraordinary fame. Her growing mob of fans packed her recitals, stuffing handkerchiefs in their mouths to stifle their laughter—which Mrs. Jenkins blissfully mistook for cheers. SOUVENIR, by turn hilarious and poignant, tells her story through the eyes of her accompanist.

ADVENT TOUR

Nativity on the Square by Tom Long
Available to tour your facility: Nov. 27 – Dec. 21, 2022

The figures of a public creche scene come to life on Christmas Eve and attempt to discover who they are. A drunken bag lady explains the Nativity to them in a manner that is both comic and deeply moving. (Length: 25-30 minutes)

HOLIDAY MAINSTAGE SHOW

A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas by Laurie Brooks
at Clayton Performing Arts Center
Pellissippi State Community College
10915 Hardin Valley Rd., Knoxville, TN 37932

Dec. 9-14, 2022

A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas is a one-act play with music, based on the beloved series of “Little House on the Prairie” books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The playwright imagines events that occurred when the Ingalls family had to leave Walnut Grove to run a hotel in Iowa. It is a story about hope, perseverance, and family. (Recommended for ages 8+)

PUBLIC PERFORMANCES

Dec. 9 @ 7:30 pm
Dec. 10 @ 7:30 pm
Dec. 11 @ 2:30 pm

SCHOOL SHOWS

Dec. 9 @ 9:30 am
Dec. 12 @ 9:30 am & NOON
Dec. 13 @ 9:30 am

For Group Reservations for School Shows, please call: 865.539.2490 or email wordplayers@comcast.net

HISTORY TOUR

Althea and Angela by Todd Olson
Available to tour to your facility: Feb. 13 – Mar 10, 2023

In 1955, Althea Gibson and Angela Buxton were world-ranked tennis players … yet no one wanted to partner with them in women’s doubles. In fact, few even wanted to talk with them. Post-War America was still very segregated and the tennis world was still very anti-Semitic. Eight years after Jackie Robinson had broken the color line in major league baseball, the tennis world lagged behind, clinging to its country club roots. Althea, a black woman from Harlem, and Angela, a Jewish woman from Liverpool, were outcasts in two nations. So they decided to join forces outside their own country. What happened then made history.

SPRING MAINSTAGE SHOW

TBA

SUMMER MUSICAL

TBA