Theatre in the Country (TITC) has announced their 2020 season of main-stage shows, boasting a mix of comedy, drama, music through five different productions.
Murder on the Nile, an Agatha Christie mystery, will kick the year off with a high suspense in February with a whodunit murder set aboard a luxurious and exotic cruise.
Dinner With Friends, a Pulitzer Prize winning drama by Donald Margulies will follow in April, telling the story of two couples who find themselves confronting lies, infidelity, and the meaning of marriage.
The unbelievable true story of teenage con man Frank Abagnale gets the song-and-dance treatment in a musical version of Catch Me if You Can this June.
A female version of Neil Simon’s classic comedy The Odd Couple comes to the stage in September.
Finally, Irving Berlin’s stage adaptation of the beloved Bing Crosby holiday musical White Christmas will round out TITC’s 2020 season in December.
TITC artistic director Reg Parks said love and support from a growing audience and theatre community helped shape the diverse season selection.
“We’re pleased that we don’t go thematically – a lot of theatres will build their season around a central theme. There is a large bank of people involved with their own vision and ideas that we don’t have. What we do is we get people together and ask them ‘what do you want to see’,” Parks explained.
Read More: Black Comedy a kooky, light romp
The 2020 season will be TITC’s eighth overall and third in Langley. TITC spent its first five in Maple Ridge before moving to 5708 Glover Road.
TITC rents out their space from Langley Vineyard Church, who just completed some major renovations to freshen up the theatre space with a complete paint, flooring, and fixture upgrade of the lobby and bathrooms.
Along with live entertainment, Over the Top catering provides a roast beef buffet for patrons looking for both dinner and a show.
Parks said providing more roles for women was a goal TITC pursued while building the 2020 line-up, most evidently with the female version of The Odd Couple. With opportunities for all genders to participate, auditions will be opening up to actors of all skill levels very soon.
“Everyone is welcome,” Parks noted. “We rarely turn anyone away – we definitely want to include anyone interested to participating.”
TITC is in the midst of one of their final shows of the year, Black Comedy, an inventive production about what happens when family comes to visit and the power goes out. The show runs from now until Saturday, Sept. 28.
The Man Who Saved Christmas will close out 2019 with shows running between Nov. 29 and Dec. 14. Based on the true story of toy inventor AC Gilbert, a pacifist toy-maker is forced by the U.S. government to turn his factory into an ammunition plant during the First World War.
Improv and music nights, plus to-be-announced projects will be popping up throughout the year. TITC also holds a theatre arts academy for youth interested in learning the tricks of the trade on and behind the stage.
For more information on TITC and their 2020 line-up, people can visit www.theatreinthecountry.com.
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Email: ryan.uytdewilligen@langleyadvancetimes.com
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