Charleston Stage Company's 2010-2011 Season

Today we look at the upcoming season for the Charleston Stage Company. They have a great lineup of four shows on the way, including:

- Superior Donuts - Sharp, funny, aggressively authentic and proudly ethnic, this play centers on the unlikely friendship that develops between the disillusioned, aging hippie Arthur Przybyszewski and college dropout Franco Wicks, a bright young black man with big dreams and a large debt. Arthur owns a decrepit donut shop in the uptown neighborhood of Chicago. Franco, who is his only employee, wants to change the shop for the better. This comedy-drama by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize–winning author Tracy Letts explores the challenges of embracing the past and the redemptive power of friendship. The show will be presented Oct. 14-16 and 21-23 at the Capitol Center Theatre.

- Shipwrecked (An Entertainment): The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (as Told by Himself) - The adventurous Louis de Rougemont invites you to hear his amazing story of bravery, survival and celebrity that left 19th century England spellbound. Dare to be whisked away in a story of the high seas, populated by exotic islanders, flying wombats, giant sea turtles and a monstrous man-eating octopus. Shipwrecked examines how far we're willing to blur the line between fact and fiction in order to leave our mark on the world. The show will be presented Jan. 27, 28, 29 and 30, 2011, at the Walker Theater at the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences.

- Palace of the End - Playwright Judith Thompson blends together the stories of West Virginia native Lynndie England, Dr. David Kelly (the British weapons inspector who reported that there were never any Iraqi weapons of mass destruction) and Nehrjas Al Saffarh (an Iraqi woman who was tortured by Saddam Hussein's regime and was later killed by U.S. bombs during the 1991 Persian Gulf War) and creates three intense dramatic monologues that graphically depict the horror of war. The play takes its title from the former royal home that became Saddam Hussein's torture chamber. The show will be presented March 31, April 1-2, 7-9, 2011 at the Capitol Center Theatre.

- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf - George, a professor at a small college, and his wife, Martha, have just returned home, drunk from a Saturday night party. Martha announces, amidst general profanity, that she has invited a young couple — an opportunistic new professor at the college and his shatteringly naïve new bride — to stop by for a nightcap. When they arrive the charade begins. Underneath the edgy banter lurks an undercurrent of tragedy and despair. George and Martha's inhuman bitterness toward one another is provoked by the enormous personal sadness that they have pledged to keep to themselves: a secret that has seemingly been the foundation for their relationship. The Broadway production of this play was a memorable experience and proclaimed author Edward Albee as a major American playwright. Now considered a classic American drama. The play will be presented May 26-28, June 2-4, 2010 at the Capitol Center Theatre.