ESR 2025 Winter/Spring Season Tickets
On sale now until the close of "Our Town"
What are the shows? We're glad you asked!
JANUARY
Our Town
by Thornton Wilder
Director: Regina Spain
Drama: January 10-26
Description: This edition of the play differs only slightly from previous acting editions, yet it presents Our Town as Thornton Wilder wished it to be performed. Described by Edward Albee as “the greatest American play ever written,” Our Town presents the small town of Grover’s Corners in three acts: “Daily Life,” “Love and Marriage” and “Death and Eternity.” Narrated by a stage manager and performed with minimal props and sets, the play depicts the simple daily lives of the Webb and Gibbs families as their children fall in love, marry, and eventually – in one of the most famous scenes in American theatre – die. Thornton Wilder's final word on how he wanted his play performed is an invaluable addition to the American stage and to the libraries of theatre lovers internationally.
JANUARY
Our Town
by Thornton Wilder
Director: Regina Spain
Drama: January 10-26
Description: This edition of the play differs only slightly from previous acting editions, yet it presents Our Town as Thornton Wilder wished it to be performed. Described by Edward Albee as “the greatest American play ever written,” Our Town presents the small town of Grover’s Corners in three acts: “Daily Life,” “Love and Marriage” and “Death and Eternity.” Narrated by a stage manager and performed with minimal props and sets, the play depicts the simple daily lives of the Webb and Gibbs families as their children fall in love, marry, and eventually – in one of the most famous scenes in American theatre – die. Thornton Wilder's final word on how he wanted his play performed is an invaluable addition to the American stage and to the libraries of theatre lovers internationally.
FEBRUARY
The Elephant Man
by Bernard Pomerance
Director: Scott Joseph
Drama: February 7-23
Description: Based on the real life of Joseph Merrick, a 19th century British man who became a star of the traveling freak show circuit. When a renowned doctor takes Merrick under his care at the London Hospital, he is astonished by Merrick’s brilliant intelligence and unshakable faith. Soon all of Victorian high society becomes fascinated by Merrick, but with Merrick's new life comes new complexity… and a "normal” existence begins to seem all but impossible.
MARCH
Steel Magnolias
by Robert Harling
Director: Kaylee Loxton
Drama: March 7-23
Description: The action is set in Truvy’s beauty salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana, where all the ladies who are “anybody” come to have their hair done. Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle (who is not sure whether or not she is still married), the outspoken, wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoos and free advice to the town’s rich curmudgeon, Ouiser, ("I’m not crazy, I’ve just been in a bad mood for forty years"); an eccentric millionaire, Miss Clairee, who has a raging sweet tooth; and the local social leader, M’Lynn, whose daughter, Shelby (the prettiest girl in town), is about to marry a “good ole boy.” Filled with hilarious repartee and not a few acerbic but humorously revealing verbal collisions, the play moves toward tragedy when, in the second act, the spunky Shelby (who is a diabetic) risks pregnancy and forfeits her life. The sudden realization of their mortality affects the others, but also draws on the underlying strength—and love—which give the play, and its characters, the special quality to make them truly touching, funny and marvelously amiable company in good times and bad.
Steel Magnolias
by Robert Harling
Director: Kaylee Loxton
Drama: March 7-23
Description: The action is set in Truvy’s beauty salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana, where all the ladies who are “anybody” come to have their hair done. Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle (who is not sure whether or not she is still married), the outspoken, wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoos and free advice to the town’s rich curmudgeon, Ouiser, ("I’m not crazy, I’ve just been in a bad mood for forty years"); an eccentric millionaire, Miss Clairee, who has a raging sweet tooth; and the local social leader, M’Lynn, whose daughter, Shelby (the prettiest girl in town), is about to marry a “good ole boy.” Filled with hilarious repartee and not a few acerbic but humorously revealing verbal collisions, the play moves toward tragedy when, in the second act, the spunky Shelby (who is a diabetic) risks pregnancy and forfeits her life. The sudden realization of their mortality affects the others, but also draws on the underlying strength—and love—which give the play, and its characters, the special quality to make them truly touching, funny and marvelously amiable company in good times and bad.
APRIL
Gutenberg The Musical!
by Scott Brown and Anthony King
Director: Emilee Caughel
Comedy/Musical: April 4-20
Description: In this two-man musical spoof, a pair of aspiring playwrights perform a backers’ audition for their new, hilariously ill-advised project – a big, splashy musical about printing press inventor Johann Gutenberg.
APRIL
Gutenberg The Musical!
by Scott Brown and Anthony King
Director: Emilee Caughel
Comedy/Musical: April 4-20
Description: In this two-man musical spoof, a pair of aspiring playwrights perform a backers’ audition for their new, hilariously ill-advised project – a big, splashy musical about printing press inventor Johann Gutenberg.
MAY
Hawkins' Choice:
A Choose Your Own Treasure Island Adventure
Adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's classic by Brian Spain
Director: Regina Spain
Drama: May 9-25
Description: “Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest— Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” For sheer storytelling delight and pure adventure, Treasure Island has never been surpassed. From young Jim Hawkins’s first encounter with the sinister beggar Pew to the climactic battle with the most memorable villain in literature, Long John Silver. This choose-your-own-adventure script will capture audiences’ imaginations.
Hawkins' Choice:
A Choose Your Own Treasure Island Adventure
Adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's classic by Brian Spain
Director: Regina Spain
Drama: May 9-25
Description: “Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest— Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” For sheer storytelling delight and pure adventure, Treasure Island has never been surpassed. From young Jim Hawkins’s first encounter with the sinister beggar Pew to the climactic battle with the most memorable villain in literature, Long John Silver. This choose-your-own-adventure script will capture audiences’ imaginations.