5th Wall Theatre takes up residence in The Basement at TheatreLAB to stage four shows next season, beginning with “Lost Boy at Whole Foods,” the story of a recently divorced Pittsburgh resident who bonds with a displaced Sudanese “lost boy” (Oct. 11-Nov. 2). Next up will be “The Glass Menagerie,” Tennessee Williams’ iconic portrait of a dysfunctional Southern family (Jan. 17-Feb. 8).
“It’s about lonely and disenfranchised people, and today we’re even more cut off from society,” said Carol Piersol, 5th Wall’s artistic director, who hopes modern audiences will notice the connection between the play’s reclusive characters and the isolation that is so often a part of our modern digital era.
“In this day and age, social media takes the place of social interaction, and those people in the play were in their own world,” Piersol says. “And they, especially Laura, weren’t able to function with real people. The glass animals are a substitute for real interaction.”
The 5th Wall season continues with “Fulfillment Center,” the story of three alienated individuals who connect through an online retailer’s shipping warehouse in New Mexico (April 3-April 25), and “Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson,” a biographical portrait, warts and all, of the country’s seventh president being co-produced with TheatreLAB (July 17-Aug. 22).
Firehouse Theatre Project launches its 26th main stage theater season, already in progress, with the theme “A Season of Risk,” beginning with director Tawnya Pettiford-Wates’ staging of “Passing Strange,” the Tony Award-winning mash-up of rock concert music and African American coming-of-age story. Firehouse will also present “Lombardi,” Eric Simonson’s deft, incisive portrait of the famous Green Bay Packers football coach featuring Ken Moretti in the title role (November 2019); “Stupid Kid,” an East Coast premiere of Sharr White’s new play about the tyranny of poverty, injustice and family (January 2020); “A Single Prayer,” playwright K Jenkins’ portrait of a teenager trying to find her place in a confusing world (March 2020); and “The Club,” a new musical that celebrates the world of cabaret (May 2020).