After a year of digital performances and drive-in events, City Theatre is headed back to the … theater.
City Theatre Company on Thursday announced a 47th season filled with collaborations and new works, all in person. The season will also bring back the Momentum Festival of New Plays and plays by middle and high school students as part of the Young Playwrights Festival.
“This season doubles down on the values that make and shape us,” artistic director Marc Masterson said in a prepared statement. “From deep local roots, to internationally acclaimed artists, the upcoming season is a celebration of our art form.”
The season kicks off in September with a collaboration with Point Park University’s Pittsburgh Playhouse and Los Angeles-based Cornerstone Theater Company for the world premiere of “The Rivers Don’t Know,” a play about immigration in Pittsburgh by James McManus, a Donora, Washington County, native.
“The Rivers Don’t Know” will take place Sept. 10-19 at the Pittsburgh Playhouse and is free to the public. Information about reserving tickets will be announced in August.
After starting with the Pittsburgh Playhouse, City Theatre begins its five-show subscription series at its longtime location on the South Side with “Live from the Edge,” a collaboration with national theater company of color Universes.
“Live from the Edge” tracks the evolution of language from nursery rhymes and community rituals to poetry, hip-hop and gospel. Led by founders/artistic directors Steven Sapp and Mildred Ruiz-Sapp, Universes seeks to challenge American theater’s conventional boundaries. The company created and will perform in the show. “Live from the Edge” is set for Oct. 9-31.
Next, City Theatre co-produces a musical with Pittsburgh CLO for the first time. “An Untitled New Play by Justin Timberlake,” a world premiere by Matt Schatz, brings comedy to the age-old debate over art vs. commerce when an idealistic literary manager at a struggling nonprofit theater clashes over the boss’ decision to bring the pop star in to pen a hit and save the company.
Schatz previously worked with City Theatre in 2019 on his play “The Burdens.” The musical is set for Nov. 27-Dec. 19.
After 30 years as an experimental theater ensemble, SITI Company is producing its final season and has returned to longtime collaborator City Theatre to present “The Medium,” conceived and directed by Anne Bogart, SITI’s artistic director and co-founder. “The Medium,” first presented at City Theatre in 1996, follows media studies philosopher Marshall McLuhan on an Alice in Wonderland-like journey exploring his insights into media effects. “The Medium” runs Jan. 22 through Feb. 13.
Dramatist Dominique Morisseau returns to City Theater for a third time with her drama “Paradise Blue,” March 12-April 3. The play, an entry in her “Detroit Trilogy,” focuses on a club owner and trumpet player in 1949 forced to make a choice between escaping his demons and leaving the only home he’s ever known. “Paradise Blue,” which made its off-Broadway premiere in 2018, will also feature an original musical score.
Lastly, Lindsay Joelle’s “The Garbologists” was set to make its world premiere when the pandemic derailed those plans. The comedy follows new sanitation worker Marlowe and lifer Danny in the cab of a 19-ton New York City garbage truck. Directed by Monteze Freeland, “The Garbologists” runs April 30 through May 22.
Tyler Dague: rdague@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1569 and on Twitter @rtdague.
First Published: July 1, 2021, 6:18 p.m.
