This autumn Acorn Productions adds another venture to its already myriad theatrical offerings: In addition to Naked Shakespeare, The 24-Hour Play Festival, Phyzgig, and other programs, Acorn will now also produce a regular Studio Series of works by local playwrights and students at the Acorn Acting Academy, which will run at Dana Warp Mill in Westbrook. The inaugural show of the series, Michael Kimball's funny yet emotionally wrenching The Secret of Comedy, is the story of how a cancer-stricken comedienne and her family navigate the stages of grief. It features Karen Ball, Beth Chasse, Cynthia Eyster, Denis Fontaine, Monia Mukiza, April Singley, and Randall Tuttle, and is on stage now through October 24.
Acorn artistic director Mike Levine explains that The Secret of Comedy, and all future plays of the Studio Series, will be produced in a stripped-down fashion in the spirit of Jerzy Grotowski's "Poor Theater," which Levine describes as "focusing on character, passion, and action over spectacle." Upcoming shows include Arnold Perl's The World Of Sholom Aleichem, which explores Eastern European Jewish life in the 20th century; John Manderino's Dance for Me, Salome, one man's reminisces of women and movies; and selections from the best of Acorn's annual Maine Playwrights Festival. Visit acorn-productions.org for dates and times.
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