Valentine's Day

Profile Theatre
November 12 - 22, 2009

Summary:

Courtship, Valentine’s Day and 1918 form the centerpiece of Horton Foote’s celebrated nine-play series entitled The Orphan’s Home Cycle. These plays span thirty years in the lives of the inhabitants of Harrison, Texas, providing a panorama of American life in the early twentieth century. Staged reading.

Courtship

Profile Theatre
November 9, 2009

Summary:

A play from Profile's "One Night Stand" Horton Foote reading series.

The Trip to Bountiful

Profile Theatre
September 30 - November 1, 2009

Review by peanutduck

Halfway through the audience started sniffling and, understandably, never stopped; a desperation, ache for home, for a Bountiful, quietly underscores every moment, from Mother Watt’s running to Ludie’s moon gazing to even Jessie Mae’s selfish martyrdom. Affecting performances by leads. Starscape magical. Bus station scene onward drags - raise the stakes.

The Odd Couple (staged reading)

Profile Theatre
June 18 - 21, 2009

Summary:

Oscar and Felix have never been so curmudgeonly! (If you need more info about the play check out Wikipedia.)

The Sunshine Boys

Profile Theatre
May 13 - June 14, 2009

Summary:

Simon's tribute to vaudeville. Having not spoken to one another for 11 years, Al Lewis and Willie Clark are being asked to reunite and perform their most famous sketch for a TV special on the history of comedy. Can the two get their act together without killing one another first?

The Good Doctor

Profile Theatre
June 1, 2009

Summary:

The play features a series of short sketches ranging from a father and son visit to a brothel, to a man attempting to earn a living by publicly drowning, to a cleverly manipulative seduction, among others. Multiple characters are played by an ensemble of six actors, directed by Jon Kretzu.

Profile Theatre Announces 2009 - 2010 Playwright

Profile Theatre
April 27, 2009

Playwright: Horton Foote

The Trip to Bountiful (full production)
Dividing the Estate (staged reading)
Valentine's Day (staged reading)
The Carpetbagger's Children (full production)
To Kill a Mockingbird (staged reading)
The Young Man from Atlanta (full production)
Courtship, 1918, The Last of the Thorntons, and Tender Mercies ("one-night stands")

God's Favorite

Profile Theatre
March 30, 2009

Summary:

Pious, God-fearing businessman Joe Benjamin and his long-suffering wife, Ruth, live in a Long Island mansion with their ne’er-do-well son, a pair of kooky twins, and the maid and butler. When a messenger from God arrives in the form of Sidney Lipton, Joe is visited by all manner of afflictions.

Jake's Women

Profile Theatre **Photo credit: Jamie Bosworth**
March 4 - April 5, 2009

Summary:

Jake’s still consumed with the death of his first wife, Julie, and is struggling to come to terms with the fact that his second marriage is in danger of falling apart. Attempting to work his way through this crisis, he invokes the characters of the many women in his life.

Biloxi Blues

Profile Theatre
January 14 - February 15, 2009

Summary:

Biloxi Blues follows aspiring writer and soldier Eugene Morris Jerome from his close-knit Brooklyn home to basic training camp in Biloxi, Mississippi. Naïve and introspective, Eugene's coming of age is marked with his loss of virginity; his confrontation with anti-Semitism, racism, homophobia; and falling in love for the first time.

Plaza Suite

Profile Theatre
November 8, 2008

Summary:

Something new from Profile. To give you a wider view of the range of work by this season's featured playwright, the company is offering informal Monday evening readings of five additional Neil Simon plays for one night only. Admission is suggested contribution of $5. No reservations available. Simply show up!

Lost in Yonkers

Profile Theatre
November 20 - 23, 2008

Summary:

A touching portrayal of acceptance, survival, family dynamics set during WWII. While their father is away earning money to pay off old debts, motherless young brothers, Arty and Jay, spend a year with their emotionally unavailable grandmother and mentally challenged Aunt Bella (punctuated with midnight visits by gangster Uncle Louie).

Fools

Profile Theatre
October 15 - November 16, 2008

Review by The Mad Hatter

For an evening of laughs, foolishness, misunderstandings, love, and even intelligence, see Fools. Profile's cast shines in fast romp through the silliest comedy that Simon ever wrote. A few rough spots with timing that smoothed out as the evening progressed. Now that these actors are in sync, expect many laughs.

I Ought to Be in Pictures

Profile Theatre
September 25 - 28, 2008

Summary:

Profile begins its season with a free staged reading of Simon's bittersweet play. This comedy-drama centers around screenwriter and father Herb, as he comes to terms with writer's block, his on-again/off-again relationship with long-term girlfriend Steffy, and new parenthood when his adult daughter appears on his doorstep in West Hollywood.

The House of Blue Leaves

Profile Theatre
May 17 - June 15, 2008

Review by Followspot:

Magnificent, tour-de-force performance from Ted Roisum. Trisha Todd disappears without a trace into her odius character. A lively supporting cast completes a fantastic ensemble. By turns hilarious, sweet, arresting, poignant. The only problem is the whiplash-inducing changes in tone. Not the fault of director Alder, blame the early, untested Guare.

Landscape of the Body

Profile Theatre
March 5- April 6, 2008

Review by Followspot:

What will it take to get directors to stop blocking for proscenium when working in a thrust? Play the angles - the sides count! Alder, Bruno, Herman are fantastic, but the show lags when they are offstage. Props matter - if the body doesn't look like a body, it's not a body.

Bosoms and Neglect

Profile Theatre
January 28 - February 3, 2008

Review by peanutduck

Love your bosoms but neglect seeing this portrait of two monotonously self-obsessed WASPs who share both an analyst and orgasmic love of literature. To complete your knowledge of Guare’s wordplay and imagery, read the script, but skip to the ending where Scooper tries to kill off his suicidal songstress mother.

A Few Stout Individuals

Profile Theatre
January 16 - February 17, 2008

Review by The Mad Hatter

Searching for the right stimulus. Tragic farce covering a lot of ground. Actors characterizations very strong but there was an evident lack of listening to each other and trouble finding the rhythm. Second act much stronger in comparison. Tobias mesmerizing. David Bodin hilarious. Grace Hsu enchanting. Kenneth Dembo’s monologue powerful.


***I was supposed to review A Few Stout Individuals the night before. I arrived 7 minutes late and Profile theatre wouldn't let me in. They have a no late arrivals policy. I think this is great and I wish that more theatres would institute this policy. It keeps things on schedule and allows for an uninterrupted experience. -TMH

Bullfinch's Mythology

Profile Theatre
November 15-18, 2007

November 18, 2007
Posted by Anton Ego

Intriguing reading of one of Guare's weaker plays. Imaginatively directed by Kathleen Worley. A-list cast led by Paul Angelo, Deirdre Atkinson and Stephan Henry strong is expected, but the real revelation is "Tall" Matt Haynes, stepping outside his usual "boyish" character and showing both ruggedness and the inner asshole. Kudos.

Six Degrees of Separation

Profile Theatre
October 10 - November 11, 2007

October 14, 2007
Posted by Followspot

Erratic direction slows down, confuses Guare’s smash success. Production feels uncertain and tone deaf. None of the three lead characters is convincingly of their world. Many of the actors play the roles we know them for, yet how that fits into THIS particular play is less than clear. Incomplete vision.