Fear manifests itself in many ways: the monsters around us, monsters inside of us, in
the darkness on the periphery of our vision, in difficult truths, in confessions, in honesty,
in deceit, in times of change.
In our 21st season, Know Theatre takes a journey through our fears: how we face them,
how they consume us, and how we conquer them.
The season features two world premieres (one a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere), two second productions, and two regional premieres. We’re presenting new works by fan favorite playwrights Joseph Zettelmaier and Steve Yockey , and introducing playwrights Reina Hardy and Darcy Parker Bruce to Cincinnati audiences.
In our MainStage season, Know maintains our commitment to gender parity in the playwrights we produce, as well as in our onstage roles and creative teams. And this season we’re taking it even further, with women filling nearly two-thirds of total onstage roles, as well. Says Artistic Director Andrew Hungerford:
“We’re so excited by the lineup for the coming season: the new voices we get to share with our community, the opportunities for collaboration with our local artists, and the way in which the themes of these shows interact with the world around us. From the fantastical to the socially aware, the simple to the epic, this season has a little bit of everything I love about live theatre.”
MainStage
TBA by TBA
Regional Premiere
Directed by TBA
July 27-August 18, 2018
We cannot wait to tell you what this show will be… but we’re going to have to, since we still have to confirm the licensing agreement.
10 words or less: Trust us, it’s gonna be so cool.
Rated: Probably PG.
THE MAN-BEAST by Joseph Zettelmaier
Directed by Brant Russell
Second Production!
October 19-November 10, 2018
In the late 18th century, the wilds of France are stalked by the fearsome Beast of Gévaudan, which has claimed over one-hundred victims in three years. King Louis has offered a rich reward to the hunter who kills the beast, and hunters have come from all over the country to take it down.
But an outcast forester and a strange woods-witch are crafting their own plans to claim the prize.
From the playwright of Know fan favorites Pulp and All Childish Things comes a class conscious tale of mystery, passion, and suspense…all inspired by a French legend of a werewolf.
10 words or less: There are wolves in the woods.
Rated: PG-13.
SUSAN SWAYNE AND THE BEWILDERED BRIDE by Reina Hardy
Directed by Tamara Winters
Second Production!
November 23-December 15, 2018
Meet Susan Swayne and the Society of Lady Detectives – aside from their interest in swordplay, they’re all perfectly proper Victorian women. Or are they? When the distraught Isabelle Fontaine-Kite insists that a member of the S.o.L.D. is actually her missing husband, Eric, Susan Swayne is on the case! Cross-dressing, double-crosses, opium and topless fencing make for a period action farce with “sass and ovaries of steel.” ( Chicago Now )
Know is thrilled to bring the work of playwright Reina Hardy to Cincinnati with this swashbuckling adventure story that explores questions of identity and ambition within the social constraints of Victorian society.
10 words or less: Mary Poppins meets the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Rated: PG.
RED BIKE by Caridad Svich
National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere
January 11-February 2, 2019
What kind of future will you have living in these here United States? Remember when you were eleven years old and you had a bike, one that made you dream about a world bigger than the one in which you live? This is that memory. Except it is now.
RED BIKE is a story of changing cities and the fears we face on the precipice of the big wide world. Know is the third stop in this National New Play Network Rolling world premiere, joining productions by Pygmalion Productions (Salt Lake City), Simpatico Theatre (Philadelphia), and The Wilbury Theatre Group (Providence).
10 words or less: Cities change. People change. Get on the bike and ride.
Rated: PG.
ALWAYS PLENTY OF LIGHT AT THE STARLIGHT ALL NIGHT DINER by Darcy Parker Bruce
Directed by Alice Flanders
World Premiere!
February 22-March 16, 2019
When an asteroid threatens the earth, the logical escape is your favorite diner, especially when that diner just might be a Time Machine. Always Plenty of Light… is a SUPER queer time travel adventure about finding hope and connection in the face of insurmountable odds. With Dinosaurs. A cross between Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, and Fried Green Tomatoes.
10 words or less: A SUPER queer time travel adventure. Lesbians! Dinosaurs! Danger!
Rated: PG-13.
MERCURY by Steve Yockey
Directed by Andrew Hungerford
Regional Premiere: Third Production Ever!
April 19-May 11, 2019
Three stories cross outside of Portland, OR in a pitch black comedy with an illicit affair, a couple hanging on by a thread, bears at the window, the worst curiosity shop on the west coast, and an adorable missing dog named Mr. Bundles. No one’s happy, people stop being nice, and blood spills. This mash-up of myth, missing empathy, and “good neighbors” explores what happens when the mercury rises.
This delightfully dark play from Steve Yockey, the author of Heavier Than… and The Fisherman’s Wife, is the second of his planetary plays, a followup to 2013’s Pluto.
10 words or less : Revenge is a dish best served bloody.
Rated: R.
SecondStage
The Fourth Annual Cincinnati One Minute Play Festival
1MPF invites local writers and community members into their unique playmaking
process. Writers are asked to consider the world around them, their cities, their
communities, and the ways in which they view the world, before writing topical moments that say something about the world as it is in the here and now. Local directors, actors, and community members are tapped to stage, and shape these moments (usually
around 60-70) with a unique local flavor.
Dates TBA
Serials!
SERIALS! 9: Thunderdome
Cincinnati’s Monday Night Theatre Party returns in Winter of 2019!
SERIALS! BINGGEWATCH
We’ll be bringing back one (or more) Serials! Favorites reassembled into full length one acts throughout the season!
PLAY(UNDER)GROUND
Know continues its unique post-show programming in a series of collaborations with local artists to be announced throughout the season. Offered free of charge following MainStage performances, PLAY(UNDER)GROUND provides a chance for artists and audiences to interact in a casual setting that breaks the fourth wall: playing games, singing songs, and creating together in Know’s Underground bar.
AND MORE TO COME.
THE 16TH ANNUAL CINCINNATI FRINGE FESTIVAL
May 28 – June 9, 2019
Fringe just keeps getting bigger, better, and weirder. And, as usual, we’ll have some special surprises up our sleeves.
Education
KNOW TO GO!
Education Programming WE bring to YOU.
THE INVENTIVE PRICESS OF FLORALEE
(created for grades K-5)
This original, two-person, interactive, 45-minute fairy tale will have your students “thinking like scientists” as they follow the Princess of Floralee on the adventure of a lifetime, searching for the kidnapped king kept in the clutches of a viciously vile and wrathfully wicked witch. Along the way, young audience members will help the princess solve a variety of math, engineering, science, and even dance challenges as she uses her brains, wit, and sound judgment to find her father in the land Scalenfell. Audiences will laugh and cheer as they meet characters like a figure-skating dragon, a Platypus-saving Pirate, a gate with a flair for the dramatic, and a witch (that they may recognize)! This unique educational opportunity unites science and art by giving kids a chance to laugh, dance, and think critically about topics rooted in STEM.
ALICE IN NEVERLAND
This interactive adventure will have your students on the edge of their seats as they join Alice, the best detective in Wonderland, who takes the case when Peter Pan goes missing! Alice is hired by Peter’s distraught shadow and a fretful Tinkerbell as Neverland is on its head and time is no longer suspended without its beloved Peter! This mashup of everyone’s favorite childhood stories will have your students laughing, cheering, and using critical thinking skills to help Alice decipher clues and crack the case. Will Alice find Peter before he grows up? Will time be restored in Neverland? Will Captain Hook ever be picked for the hockey team? Join us for Alice in Neverland to find out.
Made possible through grants from The Charles H. Dater Foundation, the P&G Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation and the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trusts, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee.
BYSTANDER TRAINING: How to be an Advocate
(created for middle and high schools, but is customizable for all groups and ages)
Our bystander training tools and techniques empower anyone by giving them safe and simple steps to “Stand Up” and “Stand By” potential victims of intolerance, abuse, and violence. We customize each presentation to you and use techniques used in theatre to empower potential bystanders and victims of harassment through education and practical application in a real time, improvised scenarios so groups can put these tools to work in a safe situation. This program created in collaboration with Spotlight Training.
GO TO KNOW!
Education programming that brings YOU to US.
DRINK AND PLAY: Adult Summer Camp (created for ages 21 and up)
Imagine your favorite childhood summer camp. Pretty great right? What could have made it better? A fully stocked bar, perhaps? Come join us July 10th-13th for Drink and Play: Adult Summer Camp. During camp, you’ll experience a great blend of your favorite summer camp activities and the collaborative experience of creating a 10 minute play as a cohort — all with a beer in your hand. Join Camp Counselor Dave Powell and other special guests for Capture the Flag, stage combat, trivia night, improv, water balloons, arts & crafts, and playmaking 101.
Each camper receives:
- Camp T-shirt
- 1 free daily drink (with discounted “artist prices” on additional drinks)
- Discounts on Know Season 21 Flex Pass
- Great stories to tell their friends when they go back to “school”
And keep on the lookout for updates on other adult classes offered throughout the year.
About Know Theatre
Know Theatre is Cincinnati’s Theatrical Playground. The Know showcases unexpected voices, new works, and plays that embrace the inherent theatricality of the live experience. Know Theatre seeks to be a place where artists and audiences feel welcome to take artistic risks, creating work that is cutting edge and accessible.
Know Theatre’s work is made possible, in part, by the generosity of community contributions to the ArtsWave Campaign.
The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Know Theatre with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.
Know Theatre is also supported by The Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation , helping to change our communities for the better through collaboration and innovation, and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation , which provides a simple, powerful, and highly personal approach to giving.
The Know’s educational tours, The Inventive Princess of Floralee and Alice in Neverland , is made possible in part by a grant from The Charles H. Dater Foundation and Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trusts, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee.
Know Theatre is a member of Theatre Communications Group and an Associate member of the National New Play Network.
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April 2018 – Loveland, OH
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 