PURE Theatre Announces Season 21

Press Release

PURE Theatre has announced their 21st season beginning in August, with four productions including one world premiere, three regional premieres and a musical.

Performances in the 2023–2024 season will take place at the Cannon Street Arts Center and virtually through PURE Live, the company’s live-streaming program (subject to rights availability).

“We make three promises to our audience: to only tell stories worth listening to, to always strive for excellence and to always give them something to talk about when they leave the theatre,” says Sharon Graci, PURE Theatre’s co-founder and artistic director. “Over the many years of being PURE, we’ve come to understand how fundamentally these guiding promises have impacted our work and informed the direction of our company. When I look back on our first two decades, I’m not only proud of the shows we’ve produced and the stories we’ve told, but I am also blown away by the incredible relationships we’ve forged with an adventurous audience that is ready and able to be transported by our work and eager to talk about it afterwards. We believe that great theatre thrives at the intersection of entertainment and provocation. Perhaps the best way I can invite you to experience Season 21 is to come take the ride with us. It’s gonna be good and the conversations are inevitable!”

PURE’s Season 21 kicks off in August 2023 with the Southeast Regional Premiere of The Chinese Lady by Lloyd Suh. Afong Moy is fourteen years old when she’s brought to the United States from Guangzhou Province in 1834. Allegedly the first Chinese woman to set foot on U.S. soil, she has been put on display for the American public as “The Chinese Lady.” Inspired by the true story of Afong Moy’s life, The Chinese Lady is a dark, poetic, yet whimsical portrait of America through the eyes of a young Chinese woman.

October 2023 will usher in the World Premiere of Atwater, a new play by Fred Thompson about the Machiavellian mastermind behind some of the dirtiest tricks ever perpetrated in modern American election history. He’s still deceased, but three decades have passed—and it’s time for Lee to answer for his choices. Atwater is a front row seat at the pearly gates as Lee stands before Saint Peter to defend his “win at all costs” political maneuvering and its longreaching aftermath.

The second half of PURE Theatre’s 21st Season kicks off in January 2024 with the Southeast Regional Premiere of The Lehman Trilogy by Stefano Massini (adapted by Ben Powers). On a cold September morning in 1844, a young man from Bavaria stands on a New York dockside dreaming of a new life in the new world. He is joined by his two brothers, and an American epic begins. The firm they establish, Lehman Brothers, spectacularly collapses into bankruptcy 163 years later, triggering the largest financial crisis in history.

Season 21 will conclude in April 2024 with the Southeast Regional Premiere of the musical Caroline, or Change, book and lyrics by Tony Kushner, music by Jeanine Tesori. In 1963, the Gellman family and their maid, Caroline, live in sleepy Lake Charles, Louisiana. Caroline is drifting through life as a single mother of four working in a service job to a white family. A fragile, yet beautiful friendship develops between the young Gellman son, Noah, and Caroline, while outside of the laundry room, some of the greatest social advancements that the country has seen are being set in motion, and change is knocking on the door.

PURE Theatre’s Season 21 Flex Pass is now available for purchase and includes five flexible tickets for the mainstage season, concierge ticketing services, first invitations to all PURE events and discounts on additional tickets purchase. The Flex Pass also includes access to PURE’s Dining Benefits Program in partnership with the Charleston Arts Festival, giving you discounts and specials at your favorite local restaurants throughout the season. Current and retired K-12 educators can receive a special discount on their Flex Pass by contacting PURE for a discount promo code.

Patrons and ticket buyers should visit PURE Theatre’s website at puretheatre.org for additional information on Season 21. Information on purchasing season passes as well as individual tickets is also available on PURE’s website, social media platforms, and via PURE Theatre’s box office at 843-723-4444, Monday-Friday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.

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