Magic Theatre Announces 2011-2012 Season

The San Francisco-based Magic Theatre has announced its 2011-2012 season, which will open with Claire Chafee’s Why We Have A Body (August 31-October 2). Directed by Katie Pearl, the play features Lili, a lesbian P.I. who stalks men cheating on their wives. When she is not channeling Joan of Arc, Lili’s sister, Mary, holds up a 7-Eleven and directs traffic. Their mother, Eleanor, an archeologist, specializes in – what else? – the female brain.

Next up, Magic Theatre artistic director Loretta Greco will helm Sharr White’s Annapurna (November 3-December 4). After 20 years apart, Emma tracks Ulysses to a trailer park in the middle of nowhere for a final reckoning. What unfolds is a visceral and profound meditation on love and loss with the simplest of theatrical elements: two people in one room.

In 2012, Magic will present the world premiere of Lloyd Suh’s Jesus In India (January 26-February 26), a contemporary parable imagining a wild stretch in the lost years of Jesus Christ. Teenaged and wayward, Jesus of Nazareth journeys to the east with his friend, Abigail of Galilee, towards a spiritual haven full of Maharajas, music, and some really good weed. Daniella Topol will direct.

The American premiere of Any Given Day (March 29-April 29) by leading Scottish playwright Linda McLean is two back-to-back plays. It’s 2pm in the East Side of Glasgow: Bill and Sadie are preparing for the arrival of their favorite person. It’s all going like clockwork until they discover they’ve forgotten the bread. It’s 2pm in the West Side of Glasgow: two people are closing up the bar for the afternoon. A chance call opens up the opportunity for a future which they have stopped imagining. Jon Tracy will direct.

The season will conclude with Luis Alfaro’s Bruja (May 24-June 24), directed by Greco. This reimagining of Euripides’ Medea is a contemporary story so haunting and sensual, it explodes one of the ancient myths most firmly embedded in our culture.

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