The students who run the Yale Cabaret hope to repeat their successful fall season --which had weeks of sold-out performances -- during the spring, when the theater company will offer plays by School of Drama students, an alumnus and famous playwrights.
The spring season will open with "Persimmons in Winter," a play by acting student Vivian Keh about two Korean women who endure the hardships of war and their own internal battles. It will be performed Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 22-24.
The other offerings this season are listed below. Performances are Thursday-Saturday at 8:30 and 11 p.m. Doors open at 7 and 9:45 p.m. for food and refreshments in the theater's fully functioning restaurant, which once again features the culinary creations
of chef Kristyn LaPlante.
Jan. 29-31 -- "Goblin Market," a collection of sketches, parodies, snippets and songs by playwriting student Barbara Labinger.
Feb. 5-7 -- "Play" and "Cascando," two selections by Samuel Beckett. "Play" is about an adulterous relationship that is over but not done. In "Cascando," three characters take part in a never-ending search for finality and completion.
Feb. 12-14 -- "The Marriage of Bette & Boo," a dark comedy that investigates a young man's personal history, by School of Drama alumnus Christopher Durang.
Feb. 19-21 -- "Calling All Smart Girls," acting student Alicia Roper's collection of three comic pieces acted in a one-woman show.
Feb. 26-28 -- "Series of Short Plays by Wallace Shawn," in which the noted actor and playwright explores issues of controversy, politics, religion and sex.
March 5-7 -- "Decadence," a satire of the English ruling class -- and Americans' idealization of British royalty -- by Steven Berkoff.
April 2-4 -- "The Harlem Renaissance Project," a one-man performance piece focusing on the African-American cultural renaissance by acting student Keith Davis.
April 9-11 -- "I Am Not Meryl Streep," a music-filled comedy by playwriting student Brian W. Robinson, who centers the play's action around noted actress and School of Drama alumna Meryl Streep.
April 16-18 -- "Someone Who'll Watch Over Me," Frank McGuiness' drama about three men -- an Irishman, an Englishman and an American -- who are held captive in Lebanon.
April 23-25 -- "Le Cirque Academique," a collection of several short pieces sharing the themes of academic life at Yale, foreign languages and cross-cultural misunderstandings by directing student Lisa Channer.
Admission for the general public is $6. Memberships are available for $25 and $30; members are entitled to see all shows and special events throughout the season for free. Members may also bring guests at a reduced admission cost of $5. There is a food and drink minimum of $3 on Thursdays and $4 on Fridays and Saturdays.
The Yale Cabaret is a student-run theater that operates within the School of Drama. The theater, located at 217 Park St., holds an audience of 100. Past participants in the Cabaret include noted School of Drama alumni Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, David Duchovny, Henry Winkler, Frances McDormand and Angela Bassett.
For reservations or further information, call 432-1566.