Geva Theatre CenterCheck out the exciting new 08-09 season!
Education and Outreach Programs

P.L.A.Y.
Performance = Literature + Art + You
Student Matinee 2008 - 2009 Season

Frost/Nixon

By Peter Morgan

A co-production with Repertory Theatre of St. Louis

October 30th at 10:30 a.m.

Recommended for high school and up.

1974. Watergate has rocked the nation. Richard Nixon has resigned in disgrace and every major news agency in the world has attempted to score an interview with him. So who finally pulls it off? A celebrity interviewer best known for his party-hopping and his features on movie stars and sports figures. Would the most-anticipated interview in American television be a work of journalistic integrity or a feat of showmanship? Today, the convergence of politics and entertainment is all-too-familiar territory, but in 1974, David Frost made history and discovered a brave new world of infotainment. . .

Topics for Discussion
America in the 1960s and 70s / Watergate
American politics and the media influence

A Christmas Story

By Philip Grecian, based upon A Christmas Story (©1983 Turner Entertainment, Co., distributed by Warner Bros.,) written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark, and In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd

December 11th, 17th & 18th at 10:30 a.m.

Recommended for all audiences (age 5 and up)

Ralphie wants one thing and one thing only for Christmas: an official Red Ryder 200-Shot Carbine Action Range Model Air Rifle - a BB gun! But when even his own mother counters with "You'll shoot your eye out," what's a boy to do? Even if you're not familiar with the story, we can all remember a time when there was such a thing as the one perfect Christmas gift . . . the gift that just might change your life.

Topics for Discussion
Adaptations / Holiday Traditions
America in the 1940s

Sweeney Todd
The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
A Musical Thriller

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Book by Hugh Wheeler

February 26th and March 5th at 10:30 a.m.

Recommended for high school and up

In 19th century London, master barber Benjamin Barker was arrested and sent into exile on false pretenses: so that the evil Judge Turpin could have his way with Barker's wife. When Barker returns to London years later as Sweeney Todd, he vows to take his revenge, no matter how vast and no matter how bloody. Darkly humorous and heartbreakingly lush, Sweeney Todd is a highly theatrical and richly textured musical masterpiece.

Topics for Discussion
Stephen Sondheim & great American composers /
Vengeance / England in the 19th Century

Fences

By August Wilson

May 26th - May 29th at 10:30 a.m.
June 3rd & June 4th at 10:30 a.m.

Recommended for high school and up.

Troy Maxon could have been a baseball star. He once played for the Negro League, but too early to cross the color line. Now, in 1957 Pittsburgh, he has a solid family and a decent job. He drinks with his best friend on Friday nights and turns over the rest of his paycheck to his wife Rose. But Troy still yearns for something beyond his own backyard, and he believes he's found it in the arms of another woman. Fences explores the conflict across generations over the vision of black man-hood and the terrible cost of a dream deferred.

Topics for Discussion
Racism / August Wilson's 20th Century Cycle
Baseball's Negro Leagues

Ticket Information

Ticket Prices:

$12 for all seats

(Ticket price for Frost/Nixon, Sweeney Todd and Fences includes a preparatory classroom workshop.)

1 complimentary ticket for every 15 ordered.

Tickets are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis.

To Reserve Seats:

Call the Geva Theatre Center Education Department at

232-1366 x 3035

Orders will be taken beginning May 27th, 2008

All of our student matinee productions feature workshops for teachers and accompanying study guides. Some will have talkbacks with cast members following the performance. For each production artists are available to travel to schools and continue the dialogue. For more information on these programs, please visit Geva for Teachers. To discuss in more detail any aspect of our student matinee season, call 232-1366 x3058.