7 Stages will be one of the busiest spots in town next month. Synchronicity Theatre is closing its 13th season with a three-play repertory that will amount to more than 60 performances over a little more than four weeks, all on the same stage.
The plays cover a wide thematic scope. “The Brand New Kid,” an anti-bullying musical for kids 4 and older based on a book by Katie Couric, opens Saturday. It will be followed March 4 by “Exit, Pursued by a Bear,” a revenge comedy about domestic violence. Then “101 Humiliating Stories” joins the lineup on March 14. It's a one-woman show about sexual identity by Lisa Kron that PushPush co-founder Shelby Hofer will reprise for Synchronicity. She performed it in 2009.
The group recently came up with concrete ways to put into action its renewed and sharpened mission to use theater as a catalyst for community involvement.
Each play goes further than the performance in an effort to reach people who might not consider going to the theater, or as producing artistic director Rachel May paraphrases some of Synchronicity's new marketing efforts, “breaking the fifth wall.”
Each show this season held open rehearsals anyone could attend. And “101 Humiliating Stories" will stream live to businesses that cater to a gay and lesbian clientele. “Exit, Pursued by a Bear” is being promoted by a Facebook contest with a $1,000 prize for people who enter a drawing by uploading pictures of themselves with a person dressed in a bear suit. The bear is making impromptu appearances at bars and coffee shops in town leading up to the play. The contest has its own website as well, www.prepareforbear.com.
Additionally, the theater partners with other nonprofit groups related to the plays, including the Women's Resource Center to End Domestic Violence and the Anti-Defamation League Southeast.
“Theater can get mired into doing things the same old way,” May said. “We don’t want to reach people who look specifically for information about what plays are coming. We want to catch people off guard. They might not have even thought about going to a play. They might not know this bear is related to the play. We’re trying to go in the back door with this and break down the resistance people have about going to the theater. We’re trying to say it’s not stodgy. We think you'd like it if you just come.”
Theater preview
“Brand New Kid.” Feb. 26-March 27. 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays. 1 and 3 p.m. Saturdays. 2 and 4 p.m. March 27.
“Exit, Pursued by a Bear.” March 4-March 27. 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 7 p.m. Sundays.
“101 Humiliating Stories.” March 14-March 23. 8 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays.
$15 to $18. All plays at 7 Stages Theatre, 1105 Euclid Ave. N.E. 404-484-8636. www.synchrotheatre.com.
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