Lauren Gunderson and Madeleine George Plays Part of New WP Theater Season

WP Theater has announced its 2018-19 season.

The world premiere of Lauren Gunderson's Natural Shocks (October 28-November 25 at WP Theater), directed by May Adrales, will kick off the season, with casting to be announced shortly. It is described as "a darkly hilarious solo tour-de-force where an unnamed woman is forced into her basement when she finds herself in the path of a tornado. Trapped there, she spills over into confession, regret, long-held secrets, and giddy new love. But as the storm approaches, she becomes less and less sure where safety lies — and how best to defy the danger that awaits."

The season will continue with Madeleine George's Hurricane Diane (February 6-March 10 at New York Theatre Workshop), directed by Leigh Silverman, in WP Theater's first coproduction with New York Theatre Workshop. It is described as follows: "Meet Diane, a permaculture gardener dripping with butch charm. She's got supernatural abilities owing to her true identity — the Greek god Dionysus — and she's returned to the modern world to gather mortal followers and restore the Earth to its natural state. Where better to begin than with four housewives in a suburban New Jersey cul-de-sac?" Further details will be announced later.

The season will conclude with the world premiere of Rehana Lew Mirza's Hatef*ck (March 3-31 at WP Theater), directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt in a coproduction with Colt Coeur and Abingdon Theatre Company. It is described as follows: "Passions ignite when Layla, an intense literature professor, accuses Imran, a brashly iconoclastic novelist, of trading in anti-Muslim stereotypes. But as their attraction grows into something more, they discover that good sex doesn't always make good bedfellows."

In addition, WP Theater will introduce the 40th Anniversary Reading Series, which will feature staged readings of five plays from its history, directed by recent alumni of the WP Theater Directors Lab. The plays this year are Chain by Pearl Cleage; Aye Aye Aye I'm Integrated by Anna Deavere Smith; Abindgon Square and excerpts by María Irene Fornés; Still Life by Emily Mann; The Exact Center of the Universe by Joan Vail Thorne; and The Antigone Project by Tanya Barfield, Karen Hartman, Chiori Miyagawa, Lynn Nottage, and Caridad Svich. Dates and directors will be announced later.

And for a second year in a row, WP Theater will team up with Colt Coeur to present their annual Parity Plays Festival, a series of new play readings by female and trans playwrights and directors. Dates, venue, and play selections will be announced later.