Pitt Repertory Theatre Presents Churchill in Short(s)? Feb. 17-27

PITTSBURGH—Pitt Repertory Theatre presents a compilation of three rarely performed one-act plays by Caryl Churchill in Churchill in Short(s)? Feb. 17-27, in Pitt’s Henry Heymann Theatre, lower level of Stephen Foster Memorial, 4301 Forbes Ave., Oakland. Tuesday through Saturday performances are at 8 p.m.; Sunday matinees are at 2 p.m. Information on the plays follows. 

            The After-Dinner Joke, originally produced for television, examines charity   through the idealism of its main character, Selby, and the politics surrounding her charitable efforts.

            This Is a Chair is a series of vignettes dramatizing the challenges of everyday communication. 

            Lovesick, originally a radio play, focuses on a therapist and his patients and   their struggles to find love. 

Tickets are $25 general admission; $20 for Pitt faculty, staff, and alumni; and $12 for students. To order, call 412-624-PLAY (7529) or visit www.play.pitt.edu. A talk-back with the actors will take place following the Feb. 20 performance. 

Churchill in Short(s)? is directed by Tommy Costello, a fifth-year teaching fellow at Pitt pursuing a PhD in theater and performance studies. He has worked as a director and scenographer in New York City, Dublin, Prague, and Pittsburgh. At Pitt, Costello teaches acting, directing, Shakespeare, theater history, and theater criticism courses; his research interests include classroom pedagogy and modern Irish theater. 

Caryl Churchill is an English playwright known for her experiments with form and daring language. Her best-known work, Cloud 9 (1979), is considered a landmark of feminist and postmodern literature. Other major works include Top Girls (1982), The Skriker (1994), and A Number (2002). 

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