One of the oldest regional theaters on Cape Cod surges forward into 2022 supporting LGBTQ+ artists and productions

PROVINCETOWN, MA, UNITED STATES, May 13, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Provincetown Theater, one of the oldest regional theaters on Cape Cod surges forward into 2022 in support of LGBTQ+ artists and shows. As more books are banned, as we’ve watched the Don’t Say Gay Bill pass in Florida, and as trans rights are under attack, the theater arts, particularly for the LGBTQ plus community is not only a haven but must remain a booming voice for freedom and equal rights.

The 2022 season brings the world-premiere of Sarah Schulman’s rollickingly smart, gender-defying comedy The Lady Hamlet, a play with big heart, deep curiosity, and serious laughs. The season also includes the re-premiere of Mae West’s banned comedic melodrama The Drag, as well as the Cape Cod premiere of Stephen Karam’s Tony-winning Best Play of 2016, The Humans, Robert Chesley’s 1986 boundary-breaking gay classic, Jerker, and Nia Vardalos’s play adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s bestseller, Tiny Beautiful Things.

“Our world has changed over the past two years. We’ve grieved. We’ve had to pause and learn to pivot. And I believe we’ve grown. All of which inform our exciting re-entrance into the arena of storytelling here at the Provincetown Theater. We’re keeping our promise to continue presenting well-established, impeccably crafted American plays for our community,” says David Drake, artistic director of the Provincetown Theater since 2017.

The Theater has been a sanctuary during turbulent times since its inception in the early 1960s. The Theater, located in the heart of Provincetown, Massachusetts, has been a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community for over 50 years. During the race riots of the 1960s, the AIDS epidemic, and so many other social and political challenges, the Provincetown Theater has remained a lively community space for Cape Cod.

“The future looks incredibly bright for the Provincetown Theater, but we are realistic about the challenges we face. Our community is growing. As we continue to bring in incredible talent from Boston, New York, and beyond to create incredible Theater, we need the help of donors and sponsors now more than ever,” says David Wilson, the Provincetown Theater’s Board of Trustees president since 2016.

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THE PROVINCETOWN THEATER
Formed in 2001 in Provincetown, in the birthplace of American Theater, the primary purpose of The Provincetown Theater Foundation (“PTF”) is to encourage, promote, and sustain the performing arts on Outer Cape Cod through a year-round schedule of programming at the Provincetown Theater. The PTF provides performance and educational space for theatrical artists within the Outer Cape Cod community and beyond. www.provincetowntheater.org @ptowntheater

THE 2022 SEASON LINEUP

The Drag – Banned in 1927, Mae West’s notorious “Homosexual Comedy” returns! Re-premiere production. May 19 – June 5 - The Drag opened in out-of-town previews in 1927 in New Jersey and Connecticut but was later forced to close for its portrayal of homosexuality and cross-dressing. The play never opened on Broadway, as West had planned. West claimed that the inspiration behind the play came from the homosexual young men that she knew around that time who, according to her, desperately wanted to be open about their relationships with their male companions. West auditioned and cast exclusively gay actors from a Greenwich Village club. Although this open form of performance encouraged a celebration of the liberated gay man in the roaring 20s, the play also recognizes the drug addiction and violence that riddled gay life in New York City at that time.

The Lady Hamlet – A play about a lesbian artist’s wish to exist. It is a farce. By Sarah Schulman. World premiere. June 27-July 21 - Two artists, both born to play Hamlet, were born women. With 1920s New York City as their sparring field, they engage in a war of wits that leaves their colleagues and lovers caught in the crossfire. A hilariously smart costume comedy with one foot in screwball and the other in a fencing match, The Lady Hamlet watches a duel of divas at the turn of the century in a fierce battle to see who will be the first – and best! – female Hamlet on Broadway.

Jerker – A pornographic elegy with redeeming social value in 20 phone calls, many of them dirty. By Robert Chesley. New England premiere. August 1 – September 1 - Throughout 20 phone sex conversations, two men living in San Francisco in the 1980s connect in explosive and emotional ways while a newly discovered virus ravishes their community. Powerful, poignant, touching, and ultimately healing, Jerker speaks to our humanity in times of crisis.

The Humans – The Tony Award-Winning Best Play. By Stephen Karam. Cape Cod premiere. October 13 – 30 - Stephen Karam’s The Humans is an uproarious, hopeful, and heartbreaking play that takes place during a family dinner on Thanksgiving. Breaking with tradition, Erik Blake has brought his Pennsylvania family to celebrate and give thanks at his daughter’s apartment in Lower Manhattan. As darkness falls outside the ramshackle pre-war duplex and eerie things start to go bump in the night, the Blake clan’s deepest fears and greatest follies are laid bare. Our modern age of anxiety is keenly observed, with humor and compassion, in this new American classic that won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play.

Tiny Beautiful Things – Based on the Best-Selling book by Cheryl Strayed. Adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos. Cape Cod premiere. November 17- December 4. - Based on the best-selling book by Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things follows the relationships between an anonymous advice columnist named Sugar and the many real-life readers who pour out their hearts to her. Academy Award nominee Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) adapts Strayed’s book into an enrapturing and uplifting play that surges with emotion and is called by Variety “a theatrical hug in turbulent times.” Tiny Beautiful Things is about reaching when you’re stuck, recovering when you’re broken, and finding the courage to ask the hardest questions to answer.

Michele Karlsberg
Provincetown Theater
+1 917-359-2803
pr@provincetowntheater.org
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