“[A] crisp and vibrant staging of the play. … The cast is remarkable.”
Arthur Dorman, Talkin’ Broadway review of Our Town
Live Theatre
THANK YOU FOR A GREAT SEASON 9!
Scroll down to view a recap of our 2022-2023 Season, or click here to view our upcoming Season 10.
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COMING UP IN SEASON 10
PREVIOUSLY IN SEASON 9
OUR TOWN
April 28 – May 28, 2023
Play by Thornton Wilder
Directed by Kari Steinbach
Widely considered one of the greatest American plays ever written, this definitive version of the script presents Our Town as Thornton Wilder wished it to be performed. The story follows the small town of Grover’s Corners through three acts: “Daily Life,” “Love and Marriage,” and “Death and Eternity.” Narrated by a stage manager and performed with minimal props and sets, audiences follow the Webb and Gibbs families as their children fall in love, marry, and eventually – in one of the most famous scenes in American theatre – die.
MERCY UNRELENTING
Feb. 24 – Mar. 26, 2023
Play by Jeremy Stanbary
Co-Directed by Stephen O’Toole & Jeremy Stanbary
Featuring original music by Nicholas Lemme
Based on a true story, this critically acclaimed original drama by Jeremy Stanbary takes place nearly 50-years after the shocking murder of a young Italian peasant girl, Maria Goretti, which captivated the nation. The date is June 23rd, 1950, and it’s the eve of Maria’s canonization as a saint of the Catholic Church, a ceremony that attracted an unprecedented half-a-million people to Rome. In light of renewed interest in the story, controversies around her canonization, and rumors of an astounding miracle in the life of Maria’s killer, an ambitious female journalist arrives at an obscure monastery seeking answers from the mouth of the reclusive murderer himself. As the tension builds, difficult questions lead to unexpected answers, forcing both of them to confront the demons of their past.
NICHOLAS
Extended Thru December 31, 2022
Written by Jeremy Stanbary
Directed by Jeremy Stanbary & Stephen O’Toole
This latest original play by OWT founder and Artistic Director, Jeremy Stanbary, dives into the inspiring story of the real-life Father Christmas, St. Nicholas of Myra.
What Critics Had to Say
“[Nicholas] is a well-honed, powerfully presented play that draws us to the beliefs and behaviors that lie at the core of the frenzied holiday season we know today. It is both stirring and entertaining–the latter attributable to excellent staging, solid performances, bits of eye-winking contemporary references that sprinkle humor throughout, and beautiful music…”
Arthur Dorman, Talkin’ Broadway Review
THE ORIGINALIST
Sept. 30 – Oct. 30, 2022
Play by John Strand
Directed by Stephen O’Toole
FEATURING: James Ramlet as Antonin Scalia, Kalala Kiwanuka-Woernle as Law Clerk Cat, Jonah Smith as Recent Law Grad, Brad.
Stephen O’Toole, Director // Lauren Volkart, Stage Manager // Nate Farley, Scenic & Props Designer // MaryBeth Schmid, Costume Designer // Jeremy Stanbary, Producer & Sound Designer // Olivia Lundsten, Lighting Designer // Mason Tyer, Weapons Instructor
PREVIOUSLY IN SEASON 8 (2021-2022):
FRASSATI
Play by Jeremy Stanbary
Directed by Jeremy Stanbary & Stephen O’Toole
He was an extreme athlete, a devoted friend and prankster, a political activist, a University student, and an unexpected Saint.
The young Italian, Pier Giorgio Frassati, died suddenly from polio in 1925 at just 24 years of age and his life might have gone largely unnoticed had it not been for the throngs of people who flooded the streets to honor him during his funeral.
As stories emerged, it soon became clear that Frassati had lived no ordinary life. His story has since inspired millions in every corner of the globe and serves as a light of hope in a broken world.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
A New Adaptation with Music by Emily C.A. Snyder
Directed by Amanda Weis
Ebeneezer Scrooge has no time for Christmas or the Christ in this new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ holiday classic featuring such beloved carols as “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “Here We Come A-Wassailing,” and many more!
This lively and spiritually refreshing adaptation with music is a delight for audiences of all ages!
GEORGE ORWELL’S 1984
Adapted by Robert Owens, Wilton E. Hall, Jr., and William A. Miles, Jr.
Directed by Stephen O’Toole
This authorized stage adaptation is true to the classic novel in which Orwell depicts with great power the horrors of man’s fate in a dystopian society where Big Brother is always watching—where everything that is not prohibited is compulsory. This timeless story has not lost any relevance over the past 70 years and is well suited for adolescent audiences and older.
Orwell himself once said, “I do not believe that the kind of society I describe necessarily will arrive, but I believe that something resembling it could arrive. The moral to be drawn from the dangerous nightmare situation is a simple one: Don’t let it happen. It depends on you.”
LEAVING IOWA
A Comedy by Tim Clue & Spike Manton
Co-Directed by Elizabeth Efteland, Jeremy Stanbary, and Corey Mills
A hilarious and heartfelt comedy for the whole family!
Don Browning is at a crossroads in life, which sends him on an existential journey to reconcile his past with the present in the center of the United States. Along the way, he relives painfully comical summer vacations from his childhood. Leaving Iowa is a story about immutable family bonds, sibling rivalries, and the heroism of the great American summer road trip.
Produced by special arrangement with the Dramatic Publishing Company of Woodstock, IL.