The saying is "Don’t judge a book by its cover," and the same goes for plays. This week at The Bard’s Town Theater, Pulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeck’s hit Broadway play “Seminar” debuts in Louisville. Whatever you may expect from the play's title, a dry scholastic lecture from an overblown intellectual is not at all what this smart, provocative, sexy show is all about.
“Seminar” tells the story of four aspiring young novelists who have signed up for writing classes with an international literary figure named Leonard. He is brilliant, but sometimes reckless and often unorthodox in his instruction, under which some students thrive while others flounder. Alliances are made and broken, sex is used as a weapon and hearts are released from the cage of social norms. Rebeck utilizes biting comedy and wordplay to document how vicious relationships can become when innocence collides with experience.
The show will star some of Louisville’s finest young actors: Brian Hinds (who has previous performed in “Prospero” and Kentucky Shakespeare Tour’s “The Tempest”), Beth Tantanella (previously performed in “RX,” “Misses Strata” and “The Kinds of Christmas”), Ryan Watson (previously performed in “Chasing Ophelia” and at Ten-Tucky Play Festival), April Singer (of web series “Bagged and Bored” and the play “Gay Encounters of a Third Kind”) and Jon Becraft (previously performed in “’Tis Pity She’s a Whore” and “The Exquisite Corpse and Other Party Games”). The show is directed by Brian Walker, who worked extensively with Rebeck at Tennessee Repertory two years ago.
Rebeck is an Ohio native known as a playwright (“The Scene” and “Mauritius”), television writer (“Third Watch” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”), screenwriter (“Catwoman” and “Gossip”) and novelist (“Twelve Rooms with a View” and “Three Girls and Their Brother”).
“Seminar” will be running at The Bards Town Theater June 11-15 and June 19-20. All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $12-$16.
