Editor’s Note: This is the fifth in a series of interviews with creative decision makers and artistic directors at all of Tucson’s theatres as we look forward to the 2019-2020 season.

Sabian Trout, artistic director at Live Theatre Workshop, on the importance of live theatre to the health of the community.

by Leigh Moyer

“Do plays in the service of the community. Doing a play for yourself is going to kill your theatre and the worst thing you can do as an artistic director is to kill a theatre. There are so few left.” Sabian Trout, artistic director of Live Theatre Workshop’s Mainstage series, is not messing around when it comes to her community. Theatre is critical to a healthy community and she works to make sure that Tucson has live theatre year round. 

At the time of writing, LTW’s 2019-2020 season has already kicked off with Things Being What They Are and will continue through the summer into the more typical theatre season, and wrapping up as it warms up again. Then the next “season” starts the cycle all over, ensuring quality theatre all year. Trout is straightforward about working to bring the best shows to Tucson audiences: “I’m just applying for the best plays for our community.” Of course, selecting nine shows isn’t simple. Trout explained, “It’s a big puzzle every year based on feedback from the audience, what the space can accommodate, the talent available, if we can get the rights to produce the play, and a dozen or more factors. There are thousands and thousands of plays to choose from. It’s such a complicated thing, it is like its own living animal.”

Audiences can expect a little of everything this season, and should expect LTW’s offerings to expand their experience of life and lives that are different, but not so different, than their own. The season starts with a production exploring the bond between an unlikely duo and wraps with a play navigating the political and social ramifications of same sex marrage in a conservative southern home. In between, season ticket holders can expect mystery, love, heartbreak and revenge, humor, complicated relationships, tricks, first-time homebuyers and even a look at being an out-of-work actor. The plays are all tied together by experience, things we’ve all felt or fought in some way.

“When I took over 13 years ago, it was clean, just stuff that wasn’t topical and didn’t represent our greater community,” Trout said. “My favorite socially relevant plays are comedies. There are so many topical or socially relevant plays that are draining. That isn’t necessary to have an illuminating experience. A humorous take on challenging topics often changes your heart and mind more than angst-ridden plays.” 

According to Trout, Radiant Vermin and The Cake are probably the most socially relevant productions for LTW this season. Radiant Vermin is a comedy about the housing crisis, how difficult it is to buy a home, and what individuals are willing to do to get their dream place. The Cake follows a baker, thrilled to bake a wedding cake for her niece until she learns the niece has a bride rather than a groom. Humanizing the headlines, The Cake explores political and emotional viewpoints, cultural expectations, and how complex baking a cake can be.

Trout is excited about Heisenberg as both the artistic director, and this particular play’s director. “I don’t usually keep darlings to myself. I try to match plays to the directing talent, but this season, I chose a play that I’m elated about,” Trout admitted. “It’s a special play, newer, quirky, theatrical, I’m madly in love with this play, and I had to keep it for myself. It’s a love story about an extremely unlikely relationship.”

Still, she maintained that Tucson audiences should catch every show this season. The greatest compliment Trout can get is when an audience member tells her after a show that they weren’t sure about a show, based on the title or even the description, but after seeing it, are thrilled they gave it a shot because they loved it. Descriptions of each play are online and reproduced below. But maybe trust that Trout tamed the animal that is putting together a season and become a season ticket holder and catch them all. You might see something you never would have guessed you’d love.

Live Theatre Workshop’s Mainstage Series 2019 – 2020 Season:

Things Being What They Are by Wendy MacLeod
June 20 – July 20, 2019
As up-and-coming Bill readies a new condo for himself and his soon-to-arrive wife, he gets an unexpected visit from Jack, who at first appears to be a nightmare neighbor. What follows is a sharp comedy about the lives we dream of having versus the lives we end up living.
“Despite (or maybe it’s because of) its origin in a female mind, this funny, charming, and rather moving play probes the vulnerabilities of middle-class maleness with…good humor, affection and incisive accuracy.” ~ Chicago Tribune

Show People by Paul Weitz
July 25 – August 24, 2019
Jerry and Marnie are Broadway actors who haven’t worked in years. At Jerry’s insistence, they take on a wildly unorthodox job for a rich, young New York banker in Show People, a crazy comedy about the darker aspects of the need to be theatrical.
“A smashing light comedy…delightful and witty.” ~ NY Observer
“A real laugh-out-loud comedy…guaranteed to make audiences laugh themselves silly.” ~ Journal News

Heisenberg by Simon Stephens
August 29 – September 28, 2019
Amidst the bustle of a crowded London train station, Georgie spots Alex, a much older man, and plants a kiss on the back of his neck. This electric encounter thrusts these two strangers into a fascinating and life-changing game. Heisenberg brings to blazing, theatrical life the uncertain and often comical sparring match that is human connection.
“On its surface, a satisfyingly life-affirming mating dance between two people who are so utterly dissimilar that of course they are made for each other. But if you choose to tune into the quieter frequencies… a probing work that considers the multiplicity of alternatives that could shape our lives at every moment.” ~ NY Times

Accomplice by Rupert Holmes
October 10 – November 16, 2019
Winner of the Mystery Writers of America’s coveted “Edgar” award (the “Oscar” of crime and suspense) The New York Times called Accomplice “a deliciously witty cocktail of a whodunit with a maniacally seamless plot where skullduggery emerges the winner!” This theatrical roller coaster will trigger screams of laughter even as audiences vow to keep its secrets hush-hush. “The best fooler since Sleuth and twice as clever!” said the L.A.Times, while L.A. Theatre & Entertainment Review proclaimed it “the comedy thriller of all comedy thrillers!”

Tilly the Trickster by Molly Shannon
November 29 – December 29, 2019
Molly Shannon has created numerous unforgettable characters on Saturday Night Live and in movies such as Superstar and Never Been Kissed and now introduces young readers to her latest hilarious creation, the musical Tilly the Trickster. Tilly is a mischievous girl who loves nothing more than causing a little trouble. From leaking cups to toothpaste-flavored cookies, Tilly has a trick for everyone: her mom, dad, brother, classmates, and even her teacher. But when the tables are turned and her family does some scheming of its own, will Tilly decide to change her trickster ways?

The Norwegians by C. Denby Swanson
January 9 – February 15, 2020
A “killer” dark comedy about two scorned women and the very nice gangsters they hire to whack their ex-boyfriends. Fast-paced funny dialogue combines the spirit of Fargo with Saturday Night Live in this unexpected, entertaining, quirky comedy.
“C. Denby Swanson’s extremely odd and delightful comedy, is something of a guilty pleasure.” – The New York Times

Radiant Vermin by Philip Ridley
February 20 – March 28, 2020
When a young couple is offered an ideal house by a mysterious stranger, it prompts the question: How far would any of us go to get our dream home? A fast-paced, pitch-black comedy, Radiant Vermin is a provocative satire about consumerism, gentrification, and inequality.
“A blithely told fable for the age of unaffordable housing. Like a Brothers Grimm story, it is executed with its own consistent fantasy logic, deployed to remind us of the dangers of getting what we wish for…it makes for nasty and energetic fun…” – The New York Times

Ripcord by David Lindsay-Abaire
April 2 – May 9, 2020
David Lindsay-Abaire’s ripping Ripcord is a deeply satisfying and entertaining story of two women thrown together by a comic cosmic force possessed of a wicked sense of humor. A sunny room on an upper floor is prime real estate in the Bristol Place Senior Living Facility, so when the cantankerous Abby is forced to share her quarters with new-arrival Marilyn, she has no choice but to get rid of the infuriatingly chipper woman by any means necessary.
“…sweet-and-sour Ripcord is great fun…larded with moments of surprise, both wacky and more substantial. When the play gets serious, it’s genuinely moving.” ~ Time Out NY
“A show to treasure.” ~ Deadline.com 

The Cake by Bekah Brunstetter
May 14 – June 13, 2020
When Della, a North Carolina baker, is asked to bake a wedding cake for her best friend’s daughter, she is overjoyed. But that joy is short-lived when she learns that the intended is another bride, and realizes she is faced with an agonizing choice between faith and family. Struggling to reconcile her deeply-held belief in “traditional marriage” and the love she has for the young woman she helped raise, Della finds herself in strange new territory.
“Brilliant… Powerful and meaningful… great writing… abundant wit and humor” ~ LA Post-Examiner