Lungs
Lungs is a clever and comical drama that follows a couple through the surprising lifecycle of their relationship as they contend with questions of family, change, hope, betrayal, happenstance and the awful pain that seems to only come with love. “Duncan MacMillan’s distinctive, off-kilter love story is brutally honest, funny, edgy and current,” The Guardian once described Lungs. If the basic description sounds familiar to you, it should. Sound a lot like your life, perhaps? That, of course, was exactly MacMillan’s point in penning this thoroughly relatable dramedy. MacMillan, incidentally, was the playwright for Third Avenue Playhouse’s production of Every Brilliant Thing last season.
Lungs will be directed by Robert Boles and star Nick Narcisi and Elodie Senetra as the romantic couple. Narcisi recently finished playing Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Tennessee Williams Festival in St. Louis and has previously appeared with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater and Renaissance Theatreworks in our neck of the woods. Senetra was seen most recently in Renaissance’s Br!NK New Play Festival and has appeared in productions by Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, the Rep and Door Shakespeare.
June 28-July 21 at Third Avenue Playhouse, 239 N. Third Ave., Sturgeon Bay. For tickets, call 920-743-1760 or visit thirdavenueplayhouse.com/lungs.
I’ll Eat You Last
Written by John Logan and directed by Eric Welch, I’ll Eat You Last has a title that might at first evoke some kind of horror story; it’s anything but. Marcee Doherty-Elst stars as Sue Mengers—Hollywood’s original super-agent who famously represented Barbra Streisand—in this one-woman, 75-minute comedy (and Milwaukee premiere). This will be Theater RED’s first production in collaboration with Untitled Productions, a new theatrical production company that seeks to bring rare works to the local stage.
As Doherty-Elst describes the work, “I’ll Eat You Last invites you to a private suite in the early-1980s, where Sue Mengers waits to receive a fateful call from Streisand, her biggest client and most devoted friend. As she lounges in her famous caftan, indulging in illicit intoxicants and explicit gossip, the world begins to crumble around her. With the toppling of her once-mighty celebrity empire, so, too, crumbles the seemingly invincible vision of Old Hollywood.” (John Jahn).
June 29-July 1 at The Kimpton Journeyman Hotel, 310 E. Chicago St. For tickets, visit theaterred.com.
Much Ado About Nothing and The Comedy of Errors
Door Shakespeare opens its 23rd season with two comedies from The Bard of Avon. William Shakespeare’s beloved Much Ado About Nothing has been transported to post-Civil War America in this production (directed by Joseph Hanreddy), with an opening scene of soldiers coming back to their homes in Door County. The world-weary Benedick will soon become reacquainted with Beatrice (played by real-life couple David Cecsarini and Deborah Staples, respectively). Much Ado’s companion piece, The Comedy of Errors (directed by Leda Hoffmann), centers on two sets of twins separated at birth. Mayhem ensues when they all find themselves in the same place and time.
“This summer, we have brought together the best and the brightest actors, designers, directors and staff from Wisconsin,” says Michael Stebbins, artistic director of Door Shakespeare. “Great care was taken in assembling this talented company of 18, and we are sure that it will prove to be a most entertaining and memorable theater-going experience. Everyone involved is excited to share the words and the wit of William Shakespeare with audiences young and old alike.”
June 28-Aug. 18 in the Garden at Björklunden, 1.5 miles south of Baileys Harbor on Highway 57. For tickets, call 920-839-1500 or visit doorshakespeare.com.
