UpStage Artists, Beltsville’s premiere Community Theater Group is winding down it’s 2022 season with Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None (auditions are August 19 and 20 and if you are interested you can find all the info at www.upstageartists.com/audition) and looking ahead to next season. Although the dates have not been set, the shows have been chosen. Next season will see 4 new shows, a mix of comedy and drama, all classics, and a whole lot of fun. The shows they have chosen are Twelve Angry Men, The Odd Couple, A View From A Bridge, and The 39 Steps.
Twelve Angry Men is a riveting drama that take place after the closing arguments in a murder trial. Twelve members of the jury must deliberate, with a guilty verdict meaning death for the accused, an inner-city teen. As the dozen men try to reach a unanimous decision while sequestered in a room, one juror casts considerable doubt on elements of the case. Personal issues soon rise to the surface, and conflict threatens to derail the delicate process that will decide one boy's fate. This is one of the most suspenseful and best written plays of the 20th century.
The Odd Couple is Neil Simon’s play about two best friends trying to live together without killing one another. This classic comedy opens as a group of the guys assemble for cards in the apartment of divorced Oscar Madison. And if the mess is any indication, it's no wonder that his wife left him. Late to arrive is Felix Unger, who has just been separated from his wife. Fastidious, depressed, and none too tense, Felix seems suicidal, but as the action unfolds, Oscar becomes the one with murder on his mind when the clean freak and the slob ultimately decide to room together with hilarious results as The Odd Couple is born.
A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller is a play set by the docks of Red Hook, a working-class part of Brooklyn, New York. It is narrated by a lawyer, Alfieri, and revolves around the Carbone family – Eddie, his wife Beatrice, and their niece Catherine. The family are first seen awaiting the arrival from Sicily of Beatrice’s cousins Marco and Rodolpho. (Sicily is the island which looks like the football on the end of Italy’s 'boot'). The cousins arrive late one night, and the Carbone family welcome them. Catherine and Rodolpho are attracted to each other, which annoys Eddie a lot. He finds more and more things to dislike about Rodolpho as the young couple grow closer over the following weeks.
In The 39 Steps, a man with a boring life meets a woman with a thick accent who says she's a spy. When he takes her home, she is murdered. Soon, a mysterious organization called “The 39 Steps” is hot on the man's trail in a nationwide manhunt that climaxes in a death-defying finale!
It should be an exciting and fun filled season. (Titles are subject to change based on the availability of performance rights.) Check out community theater in your own backyard at UpStage Artists. www.upstageartists.com All performances and rehearsals are at Emmanuel United Methodist Church, 11416 Cedar Lane, Beltsville, MD 20705.