Bully for You - September at Parson's Nose

The arts are at a crossroads. Do we stay silent or speak up? Do we lead or follow? Do our audiences want to escape? "Please, take me away; make me laugh!" Or to engage? "Please, give me a way to vent my frustration."

How do we choose material? To do Moliere's hilarious "School for Wives" would underscore his savage take on obsessive misogyny, but in today's climate would it seem like fluff? To do a full evening of Bertolt Brecht might leave us suicidal on the way to the parking lot.

The whole purpose of PNT is to allow great writing of the past to build a bridge to today, so in our 26th season I've decided to balance our evenings.

Our first offering will be "Bully for You", with themes of conflict and aggression.

"Radio Theater Live" performance

The first act presents them comically, "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off"; The Kingston Trio's "Merry Minuet" ("They're rioting in Africa!"); a Readers Theater "Secret Life of Walter Mitty", and Chekhov's comic "The Marriage Proposal", featuring James Calvert and Marisa Chandler. (If the Ukraine talks are anything like Ivan and Natasha's it's going to be awhile.)

"Radio Theater Live" performance

The second act will feature a Radio Theater reprisal of American writer Kathrine Kressmann Taylor's chilling "Address Unknown", performed by Barry Gordon and Paul Perri. Letters between two friends - a Jewish art dealer in San Francisco and his former partner in Munich in 1933 - reveal the insidious rise of Nazism.

Perhaps Brecht in November? We've been through worse. We'll get through this. Together. We promise.

Please join us. Your support means everything. Tickets available at www.parsonsnose.com. September 13, 14, 21, 27, 28. Under 90 minutes. Enjoy a glass at your seat. - ld