Walden Theatre

From a rarely produced but adventurous Tennessee Williams play to French satire to a modern American classic to plenty of the Bard, the 2010–11 season at Walden Theatre creates yet another remarkable series of showcases for its talented student casts.

The season begins with a rare gem: Camino Real, a stark Tennessee Williams play that is almost never staged. With a large cast, the play, told in dream sequences, unfolds its story through literary characters as diverse as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, Camille Gautier from Alexandre Dumas, fil’s The Lady of the Camellias and Gutman from The Maltese Falcon. Camino Real runs Sept. 23 through Oct. 2. Click here for dates and times.

Camino Real is followed by Molière’s The Learned Ladies, a delightful satire on intellectual pretensions and fortune hunters. The play runs Oct. 21–30. Click here for dates and times.

Audiences will find The Disappearance of Daniel Hand, a modern play by Dan O’Brien, an exploration of identity. When a fellow student disappears, an aspiring documentary film maker and classmate turns detective to find out Daniel’s fate. She finds out more than she bargained for. How do our many facets work together to create a coherent whole? Or can they? The play runs Nov. 11–20. Click here for dates and times.

Walden Theatre kicks off 2011 with a stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s classic To Kill a Mockingbird. The play runs Jan. 20–29. Click here for dates and times. That’s followed by the 2011 Young Playwrights Festival on Feb. 10, 11 and 12, a showcase for Walden’s own budding writers.

Next up is Clifford Odets’ first big hit, Waiting for Lefty, an exploration of unemployment and business greed and corruption during the Great Depression that will resonate during today’s tough economic times. The play runs Feb. 24 to March 5. Click here for dates and times.

Walden Theatre closes out its season with Shakespeare and more Shakespeare. In Celebration of Shakespeare and Why Shakespeare? — part of Walden Theatre’s annual salute to the Bard — consists of scenes, sonnets and monologues by the Studio and Apprentice classes during April. Then the next month, Walden Theatre hosts its annual Young American Shakespeare Festival, which runs from May 12–22. This year’s plays are Othello, Antony and Cleopatra and Twelfth Night. Click here for dates and times.

Teachers can take their classes to see their peers perform at special student matinees. These matinees cost $7, with one teacher attending free per every 10 students. You can make reservations by calling Dan Welch at (502) 589–0084, ext. 16, or e-mailing him at danwelch@waldentheatre.org.

HelloLouisville Tip: Others can catch performances, too. Tickets cost $15 for evening performances ($10 for students and seniors), $10 for matinees ($8 for students and seniors), and $8 for preview performances.

- by Ivonne Rovira, Louisville Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Ivonne Rovira

A graduate of the prestigious Columbia University School of Journalism in New York City, Ivonne Rovira worked as a reporter for the Miami News, The Miami Herald and The Associated Press. She has written articles for The National Catholic Reporter and The Courier-Journal. For more than 15 years, Ivonne wrote and edited articles aimed at middle-school children.