Saturday Evening, 8pm
March 14, May 30 August 29, November 14
Staged/concert readings of new
plays fresh from the writers!
Meet the playwrights and discuss the plays at the talkback following each reading.
(New Plays to be announced shortly)

CHARLOTTE'S WEB
Adapted by Joseph Robinette, Music by Charles Strouse
from the book by E.B. White

THE TIMES-HERALD RECORD SAYS---
"[E.B.]White's humor and sense of truth make this appeal to all ages...revived by the Tri-State Actors Theater featuring the 2008 Student Intern Company...expertly experienced direction...strange and imaginative...all the right notes...a quickened pace...takes the dance numbers to a level of high steps and sudden shifts...attractive...clear conviction...endears!"

Appropriate for ages 4 and above.  Great for families!

March 14 Only!
TRI-STATE'S NEW PLAYS READING SERIES
DEEDS of LOVE
by Wesley Van Tassel
Admission by Donation
The Crescent Theater, 8PM
         Synopsis     Tickets             

Synopsis--
 
A woman defies obstacles to help her daughter escape a humiliating environment and succeeds in freeing herself--
 
Kit, an aerobics teacher struggling with illness, endeavors to enroll her daughter, Becky, in a liberal university against the wishes of her husband, Carl.  Her former sweetheart, Wally, an assistant professor at Berkeley agrees to help.  Kit is caught up in the sometimes violent confrontation between Wally and Carl, which Becky must understand and respond to.
Appropriate for ages 13 and above-- adult themes

CAST FOR DEEDS of LOVE

   Suzanne Hays *   Randall McCann*    Kevin Schinnick *     Marie Wallace*        Freddie Maas
*Members of Actors Equity Association

                                             Pulitzer Prize & Tony Winner!
        APRIL 22 - MAY 10
      For Information & Groups Sales
          Call 973-875-2950            PROOF
by  David Auburn 
 Synopsis    Cast    Reviews    Photos   Tickets

Synopsis--
On the eve of her 25th birthday, Catherine, a troubled young woman, has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, a famous mathematician. Now, following his death, she must deal with her own emotions, her estranged sister, Claire, and Hal a former student of her father's. A burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all:  How much of her father's madness--or genius--will she inherit?
 
Reviews--
Tri-State's Review--"Fast-paced and dazzling"--TIMES HERALD-RECORD [Rest of the Review]
  
What Our Audiences Say--
--"Great show last night ! I hope everyone gets to see it for themselves. A perfect intimate theater to hear every word and see all because you are so close to the stage."
--"What a great production! What an enthusiastic and well deserved response from the audience! Katie Tame is incredible! Running out of superlatives."
What Reviewers Say About PROOF--
 
"Smart, fast-paced dialogue...wonderfully drawn characters...elegant...dazzling... greatly entertaining and refreshingly intelligent"                                               --CURTAIN UP
 
"Wonderfully funny...Auburn's flair for the theatrical is a continual source of satisfaction...always illuminating...enough emotional highs to sustain a dozen lesser plays...--VARIETY
 
"Beautifully put-together play...a crisp crowd pleaser...generate real...sparks...swift and dapper."
                                                                                                                                         --NEW YORK TIMES
  
"Intensely alive, complex, funny, human...masterly: ...mysterious, droll, and electrifying...Auburn creates emotionally and intellectually enveloping music...run and get your tickets immediately."
                                                                                                       --NEW YORK MAGAZINE

Appropriate for ages 15 and above-- Adult Language and themes

MAY 30 --
TRI-STATE'S  New Plays Reading Series #2
POSTPONED
in the Black Box Theatre
The Crescent Theater, 8P
(Admission by Donation)  
MORE INFO

Synopsis--
 
Performed by its wacky creators Off Broadway, this frenetic entertainment is long on shtick and historical hilarity. It is staged as a backers' audition for an 83.5 million dollar twelve hour stage history of the world from creation to the present. Eighteen side splitting numbers portraying Adam and Eve, Attila the Hun, the building of the pyramids, Julius Caesar and Columbus, among others, give potential investors a taste of the impending extravaganza. In the process, the opulent Park Avenue apartment "borrowed" for the occasion is trashed as the two snatch its furnishings to create makeshift costumes while singing and clowning their way through inventive recreations of the past, stopping occasionally for a little supplicating show biz patter. Tri-State's inspired production brings together two consummate clowns--Bill Edwards and Scotty Watson, last paired at Tri-State in the hilarious GREATER TUNA.
 
Reviews--
"A fantastic two-man cast at Tri-State Actors Theater...the most laughable lyrics and chaotic costume changes you will ever see, thanks to this duo of gifted actors...Edwards and Watson delight us...marvelous...shines...and brings down the house...zany...direction...is superb."
                                                                                       (Current Production)   --THE TIMES HERALD-RECORD
 
"'The Big Bang' is a smash-hit...deliciously silly...the parodies are good-natured...Feuer and Graham cleverly indict...the excesses of Broadway musicals...entertaining...They get high marks for the way they wrote low comedy." (TAT's 2004 production)           --THE STAR-LEDGER
  
"A little musical with big ambitions...THE BIG BANG does more with one set and a cast of two than some Broadway musicals accomplish with brand-name stars, a division of dancers and budgets exceeding the GNP of some countries...madcap musical...precise perfection...inspired and hilarious ingenuity...side-splitting merriment...some of the funniest lyrics you will ever hear in a single show."                                                                        --THE DAILY RECORD
(TAT's 2004 production)                                                               
 
"World history as a camp musical.... A "Bang' up sendup.... Inspired nonsense."
                                                                                            --N.Y. DAILY NEWS
 
"Utterly silly but very amusing."
                                                                                            --N.Y. TIMES
 
"An inventively staged fiesta of eye rolling idiocy."
                                                                                            --TIME OUT

Appropriate for ages 15 and above. Comic themes

The Lost Ramblers have been playing and promoting bluegrass in and around northeastern PA and northwestern NJ since about 1978, when Neil Morris, Pete Papallardo and John Updike ("the other John Updike") first started getting together to pick and sing. A few years ago, the guys decided to throw their hat in the ring and go for broke, with their own nonprofit organization – see their website, at ww.poconobluegrass.org - devoterd to bringing Bluegrass and other acoustic sounds to everybody. They started their very own "Winterfest" three-day bluegrass festival in Stroudsburg, PA, to add to the monthly "Shindigs" they’ve been running for some time, and have appeared at festivals throughout the East. . . . If you've been to the Peters Valley Craft Festival during the past few years, or visited Winterfest and the many other Bluegrass festivals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, you've heard these fine players.  Get your seats now for this family friendly, musical funfest at Tri-State. Celebrate
the summer with The Lost Ramblers at Tri-State Actors Theater! appropriate for everyone

Synopsis--
Mr. Aesop and his colorful collection of factory parts--including Straucey, the Story Starter; Pluto, the Plot Plotter; Wadsworth, the Word Worker; Gretel, the Grammar Guardian; and others--are back again, with more fables and songs to delight and enchant. This sequel to the original Fabulous Fable Factory finds the group still searching for a permanent moral maker. The 2,000-year-old factory, which moves about in time and space, attempts to return to the spot where it landed 30 years ago and reconnect the ensemble with their first temporary moral maker. Many surprises await them, however, when they encounter a much different world than before, introduced to them by a 12-year-old who accidentally discovers the factory. With five new exciting fables and an equal number of lively songs, this delightful new musical will be enjoyed by all ages.

Appropriate for ages 4 and above.  Great for Families!

featuring----
    
        Ruth Darcy *              Jack Harris*       Paul Meacham*       Kevin Sebastian       Kevin Shinnick*      Quinn Warren
*Members of Actors Equity Association 

Emish is a fresh new sound made up of five very talented musicians coming from various musical backgrounds. Their influences include traditional Irish, classical, jazz, rock and punk. They create an incredible chemistry by rocking out traditional Irish tunes mixed with some of their own original pieces as well as classic Irish ballads. This blend has brought a new edge to the Celtic rock genre. Emish, hailing from all corners of New York State, brings their sheer energy and band chemistry to the stage, igniting every performance. Order Tickets now for this evening of fantastic Irish sounds like you've never heard before! 973-875-3950 or order online at tristateactorstheater.org
appropriate for everyone

October 8 - October 25
     THE TURN
                       OF   THE 
       SCREW
               From the Story
                  by Henry James
     Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher
           Synopsis   Reviews
         Cast   Photos  Tickets

Originally written by Henry James as a newspaper serial before being turned into a novella in 1898, a Benjamin Brittan opera in 1954, and a movie in 1961 (Truman Capote co-wrote the script), James' ghost story was adapted for the stage in 1996 by Jeffrey Hatcher. Hatcher's adaptation is spare and unadorned, striking at the heart of this haunting and devious story.
   

A naive governess is hired to care for two children, Miles and Flora, in a remote country house in Essex. She becomes convinced that the brother and sister are somehow possessed by the ghosts of two former servants, a pair of now-dead lovers, and her actions based on this conviction have dire results. Are  the ghosts real or simply figments of her imagination?  Is the governess mentally disturbed  -- or is this perhaps a fiendish plot by Miles, the boy, who has been banished from a boarding school for undefined behavior described as "corrupt?"

Hatcher's version of the story manages to incorporate many of novelist James' psychological insights about characters seducing one another -- metaphorically and perhaps literally. Hatcher's TURN OF THE SCREW distills the dry wit and mounting hysteria of the tale as the young woman's deteriorating mental state and obsessions grow and multiply.

REVIEWS--

Of  Tri-State's Production--

  
"heightens our sense of dread...creepy...unnerving...a Stepford edge...gave me goose flesh."                                                                            --KQED
 
"A feverish nightmare...emotional trauma...a kind of subtle entrapment that ensnares audiences... 70 minutes of creepy seduction."             --CITYBEAT
  
"Mesmerizing...spine-tingling...atmosphere of evil and foreboding."
                                                                                     --CHICAGOCRITIC
 
"Unholy communion...wild imaginings...fantasies of a hysteric...erotic......unsettling horror... 90 minutes' worth of bravura performance."  --CHICAGO READER
  
"Exceedingly scary yarn...psychological complexity...lingering sense of gothic...guilt...
a ghostly meditation...thriller...unspeakable paranormal horrors or...internal terror."
                                                                                     --CHICAGO TRIBUNE
  
"compelling...an outstanding scary story...corners of the human psyche so dark and perverse they would make a psychiatrist blush...riveting...dark wickedness."

                                                                                     -- STAR-TELEGRAM(Fort Worth)

Appropriate for 15 and above.  Possibly frightening to children. Adult themes

 NOVEMBER 14
NEW PLAYS READING SERIES
presents          
YOUR AVERAGE JOSE'
A NEW PLAY FROM SPAIN
by Juan Pablo Heras
translated by Rick Hite
8pm in the Black Box Theater
Admission by Donation
SYNOPSIS   CAST   PLAYWRIGHT and TRANSLATOR

A comic journey--Your Average Jose' is "your average Joe" who is a twenties-something Spanish guy who turns out to be anything but average when it comes to catching a common cold, falling in love, and figuring out what life is all about. Of course it takes the right woman to help the poor guy do all that figuring out and a little help on the side from a few oddball friends. It’s all about what we’re all about when we’re not so sure what it’s all about but feel it’s still worth the effort and more fun than not along the way. A great ride! A happy ending! By one of Spain's young, up and coming playwrights, Juan Pablo Heras.

                                                                CAST (Click photos for bio's)
                                
                                              BILL EDWARDS *        RICK HITE         SARAH KOESTNER*

                                                SYNOPSIS
A holiday treat for the whole family! The great Christmas classic by Charles Dickens: the miserly Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, the ghosts of past, present and future, in this wonderful recreation. Make A CHRISTMAS CAROL part of your holiday at Tri-State!
                                                            
                                       REVIEWS

"Here's the "A Christmas Carol" for  you...charming...excellent...wondrous delight...endearing."                                                                                                --THE STAR LEDGER   "An engaging show...electrifying...overflowing with a talented and spirited cast, colorful and authentic costumes and special effects in sound and sight...a cheerful glow."                                                                                                --THE TIMES HERALD-RECORD(07)   "19th-century London comes to bristling life...performers imbue their many characters with a whole range of emotions...electrifies...foreboding...ebullient...congenial...nonstop...inspired and captivating."                                                                             --THE TIMES HERALD-RECORD(08) Appropriate for ages 4 and above. Great for families!

SPECIAL EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE SEASON!
TO BE ANNOUNCED

Selections and Events are Subject to Change

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