We're dialing up an awesome night of 90's Trivia on Friday, April 27 at 8 p.m. Do you have what it takes? Are you 2Legit2Quit?!?
We'll have 8-10 rounds of trivia, each with its own theme ranging from topics like music, movies, sports, fashion, and pop culture (just to name a few). Prizes related to each theme will be awarded to the round winners, and all teams will compete for the coveted GRAND CASH PRIZE of $100!
Near, far, wherever they are, assemble your team, grab a six pack or bottle of Zima, and join us as we wax nostalgic on our dear 1990's.
//// COSTUME CONTEST //// You better dig deep in your closet for those Airwalks, because we'd be foolish not to open up a costume contest for 90's Trivia. Plaid shirts, tube tops, chain wallets, butterfly clips, shoulder pads, JNCOs.... we want to SEE IT ALL. Dress up in your best 90's fashion to receive 2 bonus points added to your team's final score. Points and costume awards will be given by our Trivia Host.
//// REGISTRATION //// Because our trivia nights have been very well attended, we highly encourage everyone to pre-register your team of 1-6 members to secure your spot. You can do so by visiting our Facebook Event page and commenting 1. Your TEAM NAME and 2. HOW MANY total people will be on the team including yourself. Admission is $10 per person, which will be paid at the door by cash or card!
//// GENERAL INFO //// Trivia begins promptly at 8 p.m. so we recommend you arrive early to check-in and get settled! This is a BYOB event. Our concession stand will also be selling a variety of chips, candy, soda, and water, etc.! Feel free to grab a slice of pizza or lo mein from neighboring Serpicos or Ho Yi! Please review our BYOB policy.
Readers Theatre: The Humans
Gaslight is hosting our second evening of our new (and FREE!) Readers Theatre series on Thursday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m., and this time, we'll be reading the Tony Award-winning play The Humans by Scranton-native Stephen Karam.
If you have a copy of the play, feel free to bring it with to follow along. Copies will be available for the readers. This event is BYOB, and we fully support the patronage of our local eateries and welcome their food in our theatre!
If you are interested in reading, please email us at gaslighttheatre@gmail.com or send us a message on our Facebook event page.
ABOUT THE PLAY Breaking with tradition, Erik Blake has brought his Pennsylvania family to celebrate Thanksgiving at his daughter’s apartment in lower Manhattan. As darkness falls outside the ramshackle pre-war duplex, eerie things start to go bump in the night and the heart and horrors of the Blake clan are exposed. As the family gathers for this thankful time of year, they must deal with "aging, illness, and a changing economy*" and the trials of a family wavering from it's traditional Irish Catholic faith. Winner of the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play.
“Great plays are usually great in one of two ways. Either they are culminating examples of existing ideas, or groundbreaking examples of new things entirely…THE HUMANS, it turns out, is not just one of those culminating genre pieces but also, at the same time, one of those ‘new things entirely.’ Into the familiar dinner-table-drama genre the playwright has mixed the unexpected element of terror—or, rather, he has created a new element by bombarding one with the other. I should add that, for all this, the play is rackingly funny even as it pummels the heart and scares the bejesus out of you.” —New York Magazine.
“[An] inestimably kind, rich and beautiful play…truly remarkable and exceptionally moving…Few writers of his generation have achieved anything quite like THE HUMANS, a play about the horrors of ordinary life and the love we need to counter them.” —Chicago Tribune.
CAST (4F; 2M) Erik Blake (M; 60): Deirdre's husband and Aimee and Brigid's father. He and his wife still live in their family house in Scranton, and he works in maintenance at a high school. Warm and caring. Sense of humor. Struggling with sleep lately.
Deirdre Blake (F; 61): Erik's wife and Aimee and Brigid's mother. The usual worried mother, but equally warm and caring with a sense of humor. She works part time as a secretary (a dead-end job that frustrates her) and finds comfort in her Catholic faith.
Aimee Blake (F; 34): Erik and Deirdre's daughter and Brigid's older sister. Lawyer who currently works and lives in Philadelphia. She recently broke up with her long-time girlfriend and struggles with chronic bowel problems.
Brigid Blake (F; 26): Erik and Deirdre's second daughter and Aimee's younger sister. She has recently completed her degree in music and is struggling to find consistent work and to make ends meet. She finds herself frequently defending her passion and career path. She has just moved in with her significantly older boyfriend, Richard, who she is very happy to be dating. They have invited their family to their new apartment for Thanksgiving dinner.
Momo Blake (F; 79): Erik's mother. She is confined to a wheel chair and is suffering through dementia. She spends the entirety of the play interjecting incoherent ramblings.
Richard Saad (M; 38): Brigid's boyfriend. He is meeting Brigid's family for the first time after having just moved into their apartment (which is still packed in boxes). He is from a wealthier background but has worked hard his entire life in an attempt to not rely on family money.
ABOUT THE SERIES It is our belief that great theatre should be accessible and more frequently consumed, no matter the presentation. Gaslight's Readers Theatre series gives you the opportunity to experience outstanding plays that are not often produced due to their availability or production limitations and is an amazing resource for discovering celebrated, groundbreaking, and thought-provoking titles. With light guidance from one of our directors, both actors and volunteers alike are invited to read or listen in an informal setting. This series also encourages post-reading discussion about the play's themes, characters, or relevance to audience experiences.
Shakespeare Directing Submissions
Gaslight is taking submissions for our upcoming 2018-19 season, but this year, we’re doing something a little different! We have to keep the rest of our season under-wraps for the time being, so we’ve opened up directing submissions for four potential Shakespeare tragedies.
Submissions will be open until Wednesday, April 18!
Romeo + Juliet
Julius Caesar
Othello
King Lear
Gaslight will NOT be producing all four of these shows but will be selecting the best concept/director that fits with our overall season concept, resources, and the full season schedule. If you are interested in directing, please fill out our Directing Submission form below and tell us about your concept.
AUDITIONS
Open auditions for the final show of our 2017-18 season, The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, will be held on Sunday, April 15 at 3 p.m. and Monday, April 16 at 6 p.m.
ABOUT THE SHOW A rough-and-tumble farce centered around a lively battle of the sexes, The Taming of the Shrew is an engaging comedy with vivid wordplay and slapstick, bawdy humor. The unconventional romance between a lusty fortune-hunter and a bitter shrew unfolds to the accompaniment of witty, fast-paced dialogue. Petruchio arrives in Padua to hear of Katharina, a beautiful heiress whose waspish rants and caustic personality have repelled all attempts at courtship. Professing to admire a woman of spirit, he immediately sets about his wooing. The initial encounter between "Kate" and her wily suitor is spiked with impassioned exchanges of blows as well as jests. After a madcap wedding ceremony, the still-protesting Kate is whisked away to be "killed with kindness" and reborn as a loving wife. One of the Bard's earliest and most popular plays, The Taming of the Shrew is rife with subplots involving his customary devices of disguise and mistaken identity.
Performances will be held on the weekends of June 21 and June 28 with the possibility of multiple performances on the weekend (TBD). Actors will be expected to be fully-available during all tech rehearsals (the week prior).
PREPARATION Please prepare a 1 minute comedic Shakespearean monologue (not from Taming of the Shrew). Sides will also be available for reading with other actors. If you are interested in auditioning but have a conflict, please contact us at gaslighttheatre@gmail.com.
CAST (4F / 12M) Katherine - The “shrew” Katherine, or Kate, is sharp-tongued, quick-tempered, and prone to violence, particularly against anyone who tries to marry her. Her hostility toward suitors particularly distresses her father. But her anger and rudeness disguise her deep-seated sense of insecurity and her jealousy toward her sister, Bianca.
Petruchio - A gentleman from Verona. Loud, boisterous, eccentric, quick-witted, and frequently drunk, he has come to Padua “to wive and thrive.” He wishes for nothing more than a woman with an enormous dowry, and he finds Kate to be the perfect fit. Disregarding everyone who warns him of her shrewishness, he eventually succeeds not only in wooing Katherine, but in silencing her tongue and temper with his own. Bianca - The lovely Bianca proves herself the opposite of her sister, Kate, at the beginning of the play: she is soft-spoken, sweet, and unassuming. Thus, she operates as Kate’s principal female foil. Because of her large dowry and her mild behavior, several men vie for her hand. Baptista, however, will not let her marry until Kate is wed.
Baptista - Minola Baptista is one of the wealthiest men in Padua, and his daughters become the prey of many suitors due to the substantial dowries he can offer. He is good-natured, if a bit superficial. His absentmindedness increases when Kate shows her obstinate nature. Thus, at the opening of the play, he is already desperate to find her a suitor, having decided that she must marry before Bianca does.
Lucentio - A young student , the good-natured and intrepid Lucentio comes to Padua to study at the city’s renowned university, but he is immediately sidetracked when he falls in love with Bianca at first sight.
Tranio - Lucentio’s servant accompaning Lucentio. Wry and comical, he plays an important part in his master’s charade.
Biondello - Lucentio’s second servant, who assists his master and Tranio in carrying out their plot.
Gremio and Hortensio - Two gentlemen of Padua. Gremio and Hortensio are Bianca’s suitors at the beginning of the play. Though they are rivals, these older men also become friends during their mutual frustration with and rejection by Bianca.
Grumio - Petruchio’s servant and the fool of the play—a source of much comic relief.
Vincentio - Lucentio's father. A gentleman from Pisa.
Merchant - An older gentleman; a teacher from Mantua. Agrees to impersonate Vincentio in exchange for some help.
Widow - a rich woman whom Hortensio marries after he loses Bianca. She is contemptuous of Kate but also shrewish in her own way.
Ensemble - Additional servants and players, both male and female.
Gaslight does not discriminate in casting on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, age, religion or religious creed, disability, gender, sexual orientation or identity.
Our Location
There are two buildings in the East End Centre on Heinz Drive, and our theatre is located in the center of the one anchored by Gabe's. Look for our flashing lights or the sign for the laundromat (we're right next door!).
