2015-16 Season

Leap

LEAP: this is not a dress rehearsal.

A season of award-winning contemporary works that tackle those breathless moments in life when everything changes, when we take a LEAP into the unknown. Along with the addition of a sidesplitting holiday variety show, LEAP is sure to delight and scandalize Treasure Valley audiences.

  • Rapture, Blister, Burn

    By Gina Gionfriddo, Directed by Buffie Main

    Catherine and Gwen were close friends all throughout grad school yet chose polar opposite paths upon graduation.  Catherine became a career-oriented academic with two published books and notoriety to match while Gwen followed the path of building a family and a home.  Years later, after limited communication over the years, both women are unfulfilled and covet the other’s life.  When Catherine returns home to be closer to her ailing mother, a dangerous game of musical chairs commences.  The prize? Gwen’s husband.  Both women will soon struggle to find that balance between a satisfied career and fulfilling personal life.

    Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Rapture, Blister, Burn is a witty comedy that takes an unflinching look at gender politics and how feminist ideals have changed between the 20th and 21st Century.

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  • Golden Girls Christmas Extravaganza

    Directed by Buffie Main & Justin Ness, Pianist Tess Worstell

    Only one thing comes close to being as awesome as the original cast of “The Golden Girls”, and that is Dorothy, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia impersonated by Boise’s drag queens. The GOLDEN GIRLS CHRISTMAS EXTRAVAGANZA will treat you to live reenactments of classic scenes, holiday sing-alongs, dancing, and more (plus convenient access to the Visual Arts Collective’s full-service bar). Merry, bright, and white-haired, these die-hard dames will be the perfect antidote to holiday stress and generalized Grinch-iness. Hailed as “The Nutcracker” of drag shows by this press release, this San Francisco tradition is sure to become a Boise holiday favorite.

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  • Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

    By Christopher Durang, Directed by Justin Ness

    After spending most of their adult lives caring for their now deceased parents, middle-aged Vanya and Sonia have never had jobs and still live in their childhood home. When their movie star sister Masha breezes into town with her hot young boyfriend Spike, suspicions rise that she intends to sell the family home and pull the plug on financially supporting her brother and sister. Now the family must fight to reconcile their differences and find new optimism from over the hill. Winner of the 2013 Tony award for Best Play, VANYA and SONIA and MASHA and SPIKE is a tongue-in-cheek take on Chekhovian futility with a heart-warming finish. Though the character names and setting come from his work, no familiarity with Chekhov is needed to enjoy this expertly crafted comedy.

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  • Sex with Strangers

    By Laura Eason, Directed by Buffie Main

    Approaching 40, Olivia is a brilliant university professor hiding away at a writer’s retreat in rural Michigan. After a crushing failure to launch many years prior, she has no intention of allowing her writing to see the light of day again, let alone a critic’s red pen. That is, until millennial bad-boy blogger Ethan blows in from a snowstorm with half a million Twitter followers and industry connections as temping as his 20-something sex drive. Their mutual attraction takes over as she longs for a second chance as a writer and he seeks to shed his cheap online persona for something real. What they find is a labyrinth of attraction, ambition, and alternate identities as the line between life offline and life online starts to blur. Premiered at Chicago’s acclaimed Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 2011.

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