2013 - 2014 Season At Merrimack Rep

The 35th anniversary season at in Lowell will showcase seven plays including the following:

September 19-October 13
"God of Carnage" by Yasmina Reza (Translation by Christopher Hampton)
Two high-strung sets of parents meet for the first time with the intention of settling their sons' playground dispute like civilized adults. Their encounter frustrates everyone's best intentions in this viciously funny Olivier Award-winner for Best Comedy.

October 24-November 17
"Mrs. Mannerly" by Jeffrey Hatcher
In this tart but charming comedy, it's the fall of 1967 and young Jeffrey has just enrolled in a manners class taught by the formidable Helen Anderson Kirk, otherwise known as Mrs. Mannerly. Although society is rapidly changing, Jeffrey and his rival classmates must decide how far they will go to become the first student to achieve a perfect score on Mrs. Mannerly's legendary final exam.

November 29-December 22
"Stella and Lou" by Bruce Graham
Lou is just about to close up his bar for the night when Stella, one of his regulars, walks in with a surprising proposal. Lou is a faithful widower and Stella a dedicated nurse. This romantic comedy asks if a second chance at love is really possible for two people with a lot of miles on them.

January 9-February 2, 2014
"Equally Divided" by Ronald Harwood
Edith has taken care of her bitter, elderly mother and indulged the old woman's antiquing habit for years. Now that mum has passed away, she just wants what she deserves, except her wealthy, eccentric, good-for-nothing sister Renata wants her half too. A comedy about a woman in a moral quandary.

February 13-March 9, 2014
"The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith" by Angelo Parra
Ignoring a scheduled performance, Bessie Smith, The Empress of the Blues, finds herself in a "buffet flat" - a private lounge - hanging with her band and in a revealing mood, sings her story of a life filled with tumultuous romances, hard living, and, always, music.

March 20-April 13, 2014
"Talley's Folly" by Lanford Wilson
One year after a brief, secret courtship, Matt Friedman surprises Sally Talley at her family's home on the Fourth of July, 1944, with the hopes of rekindling their romance in Lanford Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning valentine to unlikely love.

April 24-May 18, 2014
"The Complete History of Comedy (abridged)"
By Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor
The Reduced Shakespeare Company returns with a brand new comedy about, what else...comedy. As only they can, the RSC guys deconstruct the history of comedy, debate who's the funniest person ever to have lived, and ask, if laughter is the best medicine, will it be covered by Obamacare?

MRT's 2012-2013 Season is sponsored by LowellBank.

Season subscriptions as well as single tickets to all productions in the 2012-2013 Season are on sale now. Stop by the box office at 50 E. Merrimack Street in Lowell, call 978-654-4MRT (4678) or visit MRT.org.