Know Theatre's 2018-2019 season lineup honed in on "Fear Itself." Looking past scares — both existential and what lurks in the shadows — the Over-the-Rhine theater company is gearing up for "The Fight" in their 2019-2020 season.
Six mainstage shows are slated throughout the season that touch on topics ranging from navigating unemployment to parenting kids in a wounded world and superheroes doing what they do: battling evil.
“When we settled on the theme 'Fear Itself' for our 21st season, we knew that we’d need to follow it up with something equally compelling, and equally drawn from the zeitgeist," says Producing Artistic Director Andrew Hungerford in a release.
But "The Fight" theme, he says, isn't just about what goes onstage. It's also what they're working on behind the scenes.
In the release, he poses the following questions: "How do we combat economic inequality through the art we make? How do we ensure that everyone gets paid a fair wage? How do we fight for more underrepresented voices? How do we get a better quality of life for all? As a small theatre company that’s continually challenged with doing more with ever fewer resources, how do we change the world? And how, while doing all that, do we make the best work possible for our community?"
Here's the lowdown on what shows are coming to Know Theatre's mainstage:
Girl in the Red Corner
July 26-Aug. 17, 2019
Written by Stephen Spotswood and directed by Tamara Winters, Girl in the Red Corner follows the life of an unemployed, newly divorced woman named Halo who is searching for a way to gain her life back. When she starts attending mixed martial arts lessons, her trainer coins her as a lightweight. And both her mom and sister think the new hobby is weird.
"As she prepares for her first match, Halo realizes that life inside the cage and outside the cage are disturbingly similar," the play's description reads. "And that the only way to survive either is to fight."
The Absentee
Sept. 13-Oct. 5, 2019
This tale is set in the far reaches of the Milky Way where "Beacons" serve as lighthouses for spaceships warping across the galaxy. Written by Julia Doolittle — the director has yet to be announced — the plot kicks into action when a U.S. Space Forces ship explodes near Beacon 44.AR.90. The ship's operator finds herself alone with only her ship's A.I. system as a companion. (Hal 3000 meets Spike Jonze's Her meets Sandra Bullock in Gravity, perhaps?)
This play was a semi-finalist for the Relentless award and the 2019-2020 Woodward/Newman Drama Award winner.
Puffs, or seven increasingly eventful years at a certain school of magic and magic
Nov. 22-Dec. 21, 2019
If you guessed that this play was set in the world (or spoofing) Harry Potter, you're right. But instead of following a trio of Gryffindors — or, as the house is dubbed in this play, "The Brave" — Matt Cox's work focuses on the perspective of a trio of pals that hail from the Puff House (aka, the hardworking, loyal and oft under-appreciated Hufflepuffs). Another production of the Harry Potter-inspired play will wrap up a stint on New York City's Off Broadway in August. Directed by Andrew Hungerford, it's for anyone who has ever felt like they weren't the hero of their own story.
In the Night Time (before the sun rises)
Jan.17-Feb. 8, 2020
This U.S. premiere written by Nina Segal will kick off 2020 (director TBA). A couple tries to soothe their baby's cries, but as the hours go on, the horrors facing the planet threaten to crash into their child's room. In the Night Time asks: "Should they ever have brought this child into such a wounded world?"
Alabaster
Feb. 28-March 21, 2020
A photographer wants to explore the topography of scars through her work, which leads her to an undiscovered folk artist tucked away in North Alabama. Written by Audrey Cefaly, it's also apparently narrated by a goat.
Lasso of Truth
April 17-May 9, 2020
Written by Carson Kreitzer and directed by Tamara Winters, this play explores the life of Wonder Woman's creator, William Marston, who also was the inventor of the first lie detector machine.
"This smart, seductive, wild ride features the two women Marston lived with in a polyamorous relationship — both of whom inspired the famous character — plus a girl in search of answers about her childhood heroine, and a guy trying to hold on to his prized first issue," reads the play's description.
For more info or tickets, visit knowtheatre.com