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arizona women's theatre company highlights of the 2007-2008 season
The 2007-8 season is supported, in part, by the Scottsdale Cultural Council, and the Arizona Commission on the Arts with funding from the State of Arizona and the National Endowment for the Arts.
October 12-November 4, 2007: "Be Aggressive," a satirical look at surburban life by Annie Weisman, under the direction of Joy Bingham Strimple
 This comedy skewers our national obsession with appearance, class, and the new. Vista Del Sol is paradise. Sandy beaches. Avocado-lined streets. But for cheerleader Laura, peppy chants become slogans of anger. To escape the confines of her suburban life, Laura sets off with a ferocious fellow cheerleader on a road trip to the Spirit Institute of the South, to learn real cheer, the kind with Bible Belt intensity. All they need is two weeks and a thousand bucks for the journey. Armed with only a Mobil card, the girls must face the open road together while their frantic parents try to cope with the missing pieces of their lives.
Annie Weisman is a new, exciting and unique voice in American theatre. The Arizona Women’s Theatre is thrilled to bring Weisman’s sparklingly original story to Arizona.
Thursdays at 8pm, tickets $15. Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, tickets $22. Sundays at 2pm, tickets $17 at the Stable Arts Complex, 7610 E. McDonald Drive, Scottsdale 85250.
October 24, 2007 at 7pm: author and playwright Diane Lefer reading, discussion and book signing for California Transit, awarded the Mary McCarthy Prize for Short Fiction.
 Southern California: land of dislocation and assimilation. It is a place Diane Lefer knows well. In California Transit , she uses conversational prose and macabre wit to zero-in on a Mexican woman detained indefinitely by immigration officials, isolating her from her American family; or a zoo employee considering what to do with a euthanized antelope's head; or, in the title novella, a lonely woman, riding buses all day, who cannot avert the violence building within her. Like a surveillance camera meant to record crime, not to stop it, Lefer presents a world gone wrong, not because of people's hatred for one another but because of their impossible, unfulfilled yearning to connect.
"Diane Lefer is one of the most gifted and witty writers around....California Transit contains such a wide range of quirky events and rich characterizations that it is as memorable and satisfying as any fiction."-- Oscar Hijuelos
"...filled with wish and dread, at once desperate, hilarious, bewildering, hope-filled....a rigorous and passionate inquiry of the highest order." – Carole Maso
"Lefer's characters...are Californians obsessed with social and economic injustice, the welfare of animals, the politics of the body and the Kafkaesque horrors of immigration law....Lefer's book certainly deserves attention." – San Francisco Chronicle
"...a remarkable and inspiring collection of short stories....Lefer grabs the reader with her distinctive style and sharp insight..."– LA Stage
Changing Hands Book Store, 6428 S McClintock Drive, Tempe, AZ 85283
2 NIGHTS ONLY! February 5 and 6, 2008: "Maybe Baby, It's You," Nibbles-and-Libations Reception and Special Presentation of Canyon Moon Theatre's Acclaimed Production to Benefit the Arizona Women's Theatre Company
 If you believe in soul-mates, you won’t want to miss "Maybe Baby, It’s You," a raucous comedy by Charlie Shanian and Shari Simpson, February 5 and 6, 2008. Directed by Gail Edwards (Blossom, Full House) and starring Shondra Jepperson and Jeff Shipper Masters, "Maybe Baby, It’s You" chronicles how ridiculous we all can be in our search for true love. It takes us on a wild ride through male-female relationships, from flirtatious high school nerds to elderly divorced bickerers. Valley premiere following a sold-out, standing-ovation run in Sedona. A wonderful way to spend a pre-Valentines evening. More information available at http://maybebabyontour.com.
Tuesday and Wednesday, February 5 and 6, 2008. Each night the nibbles-and libations reception begins at 6pm, and the performance starts at 7pm. Tickets $40. At the Theatre Artists Studio, 4848 E. Cactus, Suite 406, Scottsdale 85254.
IMPORTANT: PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF LOCATION TO THE WONDERFUL THEATRE AT THEATRE ARTISTS STUDIO. PLEASE PRINT THESE DIRECTIONS AND MAP : Take Cactus Road to 2 blocks east of Tatum Blvd, and turn north onto Paradise Village Parkway EAST. (The intersection where you turn has an Olive Garden on the N.W. corner). The Theatre Artists Studio is on the west (left)side of the street, in third driveway.
March 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 21, and 22, 2008: "The Sweetest Swing in Baseball," a drama/comedy by Rebecca Gilman
 Just in time for the sweetness of Spring Training, AZWTC presents "The Sweetest Swing in Baseball" featuring the persona of that bad boy of baseball, Darryl Strawberry. With his infamous "sweet" swing and troubled personal behavior, Strawberry becomes a metaphor for the dark side of fame as Gilman plays with the parallels between art and baseball, how we measure the success and failure of those we make into celebrities, and how we build them up and tear them down with equal enthusiasm--when maybe they just want to make art or hit baseballs.
The story follows Dana Fielding, a successful artist whose latest exhibition flops along with her personal life. To dig herself out of her crisis, she is admitted to a psychiatric hospital only to seek inspiration from the unlikeliest of sources: Strawberry and his checkered life and career as a "star" batter. Maybe she's not a ball player, but Dana decides she needs the brag and comeback energy of Darryl Strawberry to survive as an artist. And more than that, she needs to become Darryl Strawberry--and not just figuratively. This woman has to become one of the only players in history to win a World Series championship with both of New York's current teams or her insurance company is going to kick her out of the hospital. But, first, she has to learn something about baseball. Can you list in chronological order every team Strawberry played for? Including the "bottom of the bottom" farm team he went to after he got "clean for real?" You will after seeing "The Sweetest Swing in Baseball," a celebration of art, theatre, and yes, baseball.
Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, tickets $22. Sundays at 2pm, tickets $17 at the Cattletrack Compound, 6105 N. Miller Road, Scottsdale 85250. NOTE CHANGE OF LOCATION TO LARGER VENUE
May 16, 18, 30, 31 and June 1, 2008
The Pandora Festival, New Works by Arizona Women Playwrights
21 Plays in 5 Days
at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
 We know Arizona women are fabulous, and we can prove it as we heat up the theatre scene with new and provocative plays. Join the Arizona Women’s Theatre Company as we present staged readings of new works by 19 Arizona playwrights the weekends of May 16-18 and May 30-June 1 at various times throughout the days. The Pandora Festival celebrates the talent and creativity of women from around the state, as they explore their world and tell their stories. The Festival features full-length, one-act and 10-minute plays chosen by a juried panel and produced by experienced Valley directors and actors who will bring these plays to life. From profound to hilarious, there is certain to be something to please everyone over this two-weekend event.
All performances at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. 2nd Street. Click for full schedule.
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