THE SHOWS
2019 SHOWS
Choose your own adventure. Explore over 100 performances over 4 days.
Use the filters to browse shows by date, genre, venue, age-appropriateness, and more.
There’s something for everyone!
EXPLORE SHOWS WITH THESE FILTERS
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A Kingdom, A Chasm
Three unlikely companions must sustain a "community" in the ravaged wilderness that was once New Orleans. Brought together by disaster, living in the shelter of a disintegrating Mercedes Benz, Emelda, Dudley, and Chauncey have created their own mini-society in a land where no society is left. Their social biases have survived while the city around them did not, however, and their little world is at the point of collapse. Through absurd humor and exuberant physicality "A Kingdom, A Chasm" explores the dysfunction of defunct social systems and the tenuous compassion that holds humans together in spite of it all.
Taking inspiration from the likes of the mad tea party in Alice in Wonderland and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Vagabond Inventions uses its contemporary approach to classic clowning to tell this surrealistic tale of friendship amidst crisis.
Aim’d so near
Two spirited women, a locked room, a tape recorder, and a puzzle. Based upon significant, courageous, and often overlooked characters from Shakespeare’s 'Othello' and 'Romeo and Juliet', Emilia and Angelica uncover the secrets keeping them trapped. Will accepting past sins free them from confinement?
AntiCone
Inspired by Sophocles’ Antigone, AntiCone is the largely wordless story of an immigrant who is put to work building a wall against her country of origin (and, therefore, her brothers), under the dangerous eye of new leader, Creon, and against the pull of her ancient namesake. Scored by evocative and visceral original music, the play combines physical theatre, clowning, and audience interaction with unique, powerful dances. AntiCone was an official selection of FringeNYC festival in the fall 2018. Recommended for ages 13+.
CPT’s International Ensemble Projects
A double bill presentation of original works by Masrah Cleveland Al-Arabi and Teatro Público de Cleveland, multi-national and multi-lingual community ensembles resident to Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT).
Masrah Cleveland Al-Arabi, Raymond Bobgan and Faye Hargate collaborate to create an original play based on the members’ own stories. Alejandro Moreno's "Colt 45" (performed by Teatro Público de Cleveland) begins in the aftermath of a horrible natural disaster. Dolores and Daniel are surprised to find an unconscious Donald Trump. Drama ensues as they decide what to do next.
Form I-485
A newly married couple is put to the test by immigration officers.
This "pop-up" performance can be seen during these times:
Wed 7/24/2019 6:00pm-7:30pm (Playhouse Square)
Thu 7/25/2019 6:00pm-7:30pm (Playhouse Square, then wandering)
7/26/2019
6:10pm (Hermit Club Patio)
6:35pm (Outcalt Theatre Lobby)
7:25pm (Miller Classroom Lobby)
7/27/2019
4:30pm (Outcalt Theatre Lobby)
5:30pm (Helen Theatre Lobby)
7:20pm (Hermit Club Patio)
In Their Footsteps
Thousands of American women served in the Vietnam War. Infinite Variety Productions (IVP) interviewed five of these women - all volunteers. Through a script created from the oral histories and an innovative set using five blocks, IVP tells the often unknown, yet timely, story of the human side of war.
Love’s Lost Raree Box
"Step right up and take a peep inside this wonderous box!” ...an enticing invitation from the Raree Box Madame, an unusual woman in possession of a precious box with mysterious origins. Solo artist Chris Seibert seduces willing audience members to share in stories of love and loss, magic and origins.
This "pop-up" performance can be seen during these times:
Thu 7/25/2019 7:00pm-8:30pm (Playhouse Square, outdoor)
Fri 7/26/2019 8:45pm-11:00pm (Public Square)
Sat 7/27/2019 5:30pm-7:45pm (Public Square)
Sat 7/27/2019 9:30pm-10:30pm (Public Square)
Peter Pan and Wendy
A fresh take on a beloved story follows Wendy's adventures in Neverland with the charming immortal Peter Pan. Through make-believe that becomes all-too-real in battles with the fiercest lady on the seas, Captain Hook, Wendy discovers that to love truly is to risk loss - but to risk loss at the ticking hands of time is to embrace the possibility of loving truly.
Resistance
Written by Golden Globe award-winning actress and playwright, Regina Taylor ("Crowns"), "Resistance" is a series of short plays that tackle a range of topics, from LGBTQ rights to gun rights to voting, to the 13th amendment's tie to modern slavery and the prison system. These diverse plays take an unflinching look at our current social political terrain.
This project is made possible through grant support from the Minority Arts and Education Fund (MAEF), a program of the Cleveland Foundation.
"Resistance" is made up of the following 6 short works:
DEJA VU
As 101-year old Pearl waits her turn to cast her ballot she recalls her participating in the marches for the Voting Rights Act, Pearl has a hard time figuring if she stands in the past or present as things seem painfully familiar in the age of MAGA.
JIM JOHNSON
Real life Jim Johnson was a janitor at Princeton University. One of the students recognize him as a runaway slave. Johnson had the right to contest his being dragged back down south into slavery by fighting his identity. He lost the case but the town "bought" him from his owner. Johnson had to pay off the debt. He lived to see the passage of the 13th amendment which abolished slavery except in the case of imprisonment. Under this law - Johnson's descendants remain slaves to this day.
BITING THE BULLET
Maya and Harold share the memory of the death of their son by gun violence. They do not share the same opinions on gun control laws.
ANY OTHER NAME
On the eve of the birth of their first child - Serena and Cynthia can't agree on the name of their first child: Penelope... which has a safe and traditional family history and meaning to one... or Dragon Planet Boxer which is fierce and in your face to the other, who doesn't want her child to ever feel that she has to hide. As their child listens to her parents stories, she readies herself to take on the names that the world might give her even before she takes her first breath.
MARS
The devastation of global warming has passed the point of no return. People are lining up to buy a one way ticket to Mars. Mars is a planet named after a god of war and has its own thoughts about being colonized.
HEADRAG
A centenarian African American woman is getting ready for God to land on earth in a spaceship and carry her home. She believes that God must look like her since no one sees her/hears her and treats her like a foreign body.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT:
Regina Taylor (PLAYWRIGHT) is an actor, director and playwright. Playwriting credits include: “Bread” (Edgerton Award. Water Tower Theater), “Crowns” (four Helen Hayes awards, including Best Director), "Oo-Bla-Dee," (Steinberg-ATCA award) and "Drowning Crow," (Broadway, MTC), “The Trinity River Plays” (Edgerton Foundation Award) and “stop.reset” (Signature Theater Residency Five).
Ms. Taylor received the Denzel Washington Endowed Chair Fordham University at Lincoln Center. An Artistic Associate of Goodman Theatre, Taylor is its most produced playwright. Signature Theater residency five playwright.
Taylor in her TV role as Lily Harper in "I'll Fly Away” received a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress, 3 NAACP Image Awards and two Emmy Award nominations. Her other television roles include “The Unit”. Taylor was first African American lead in Masterpiece Theatre’s "Cora Unashamed," starred as Anita Hill in HBO’s “Strange Justice” and “A Good Day to Die” starring Sidney Poitier. She has co-starred in USA Networks’ Dig and guest starred in “Elementary” and “The Black List”. Next year Taylor is featured in Netflix’ One Day and a Night starring Jeffrey Wright, Ashton Saunders and directed/written by Joe Robert Cole (writer: Black Panther) and guest stars on Red Line (Producer Ava DuVernay for CBS).
Taylor’s film credits include “Saturday Church”, "The Negotiator," "Courage Under Fire," "Clockers," and "Lean on Me." Taylor was also the first Black woman to play Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" on Broadway.
Table For Two
Once upon a time there was a woman and a man. For clarity’s sake, we will call them Mr. and Mrs. They were in love and because of that, they decided to marry one another. And for the sake of all of you, let's just say this love story does not end well.
This Is NOT About My Dead Dog
“This is NOT About My Dead Dog” is a comedic one-woman show reflecting on sex, alcohol, and an awkward girlhood. Follow actor/playwright Amy Schwabauer on a journey from young partier to young adult involving German Shepherds, breakups, and offbeat ruminations on the natural world. Originally produced to sold-out houses in January 2017, “This is NOT About My Dead Dog” is a tour-de-force from a unique talent hailed as “brave,” “brilliant,” and “brazen,” and praised for “spin[ning] a worthy anecdote and command[ing] the stage with flair.” Don’t miss this breakthrough work by Cleveland’s “Best Actress” for 2017.
Uncle Toots’ Pasta Dish
Uncle Toots wants one last pasta dinner in the home he’s about to lose, but more than sauce is stirred up and served when his family and longtime hospice nurse ambush him about a 60 year relationship he packed away. With you, Toots’ wide-eyed sister, Aunt Barb, World War II veteran husband, Rocky, and Nurse Nancy at the dining room table, a tale of lost love awakens this contentious family to realities they’ve never faced before. "Uncle Toots’ Pasta Dish" is an improvised experience you help bring to life even if you decide to just shut up and eat!