Chattanooga Pulse

After ending the season with a big kooky splash in Psycho Beach Party, the Chattanooga Theatre Centre is already changing costumes for the 2009-2010 season in the Circle. As always, the plays in the Circle are the edgier, contemporary fare. If you like theatre, a season subscription to the Circle is a real bargain—and no place else in Chattanooga does work like this.

November 6 – 21, 2009: Regrets Only.

Paul Rudnick tells a comic Manhattan tale, exploring marriage, friendships and squandered riches. The setting: a Park Avenue penthouse. The players: a powerhouse attorney, his socialite wife and their closest friend, one of the world’s most successful fashion designers. Sounds to us as though this one might be right on the money.

January 15 – 30, 2010: The Little Dog Laughed.

Playwright Douglas Carter Beane’s Hollywood dish-a-thon follows the adventures of Mitchel Green, a movie star who could hit big if it weren’t for one teensy-weensy problem. H’mmm, what could that be?  His agent, Diane, can’t seem to keep him in the closet.  Trying to help him navigate Hollywood’s choppy waters, the devilish Diane does 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? We can’t wait.

May 28 – June 12, 2010: Pig Farm.

On a struggling pig farm somewhere in America, Tom and Tina (with the help of Tim, their hired hand) fight to hold onto their herd of 15,000 restless pigs.  Dumping sludge into the river drives Tom to drink, and Tim seems to have caught Tina’s eye. Then Teddy, a gun-toting officer of the EPA, arrives to inspect the operation and life on the farm gets really swinish. By Greg Kotis.

July 23 – August 7, 2010. The Book of Liz.

No matter where you have encountered the Sedaris siblings, David and Amy—NPR, live in concert, through one of their books—you’ve learned not to be drinking anything while listening or reading because you will laugh so hard it will squirt out your nose. We hope the CTC will keep that in mind at the concessions booth when they stage the Sedarises’ The Book of Liz.  Sister Elizabeth Donderstock is Squeamish, has been her whole life.  She makes cheese balls that sustain the existence of her entire religious community, Clusterhaven.  Feeling unappreciated, she tries her luck in the outside world.  Along the way, she meets an immigrant couple who find her a job waiting tables at Plymouth Crock, a family restaurant run almost entirely by recovering alcoholics.  The alcoholics love her.  The customers love her.  Her Danderfrock fits right in.  Things are going great for Liz, until she’s offered a promotion to manager.  Liz has a sweating problem, and to get the job, she’ll have to fix it.  Back at Clusterhaven, Liz’s compatriots can’t seem to duplicate her cheese ball recipe, and it’s going to cost them their quaint, cloistered lifestyle. Panic-stricken and desperate, they’re sure she sabotaged the recipe. Hilarity, we one-hundred-percent promise, ensues.

If that’s not enough theatre for you, the season also includes the winner of the biennial New Play Festival, on stage March 26 through April 10.

Chattanooga Theatre Centre 2009-2010 Circle Stage Season
$60 subscription (can be used as a flex pass for any show. Reservations required.)
Chattanooga Theatre Centre, 400 River Street
(423) 267-8534. www.theatrecentre.com