People's Branch Theatre, Nashville's professional progressive theatre, proudly celebrates TEN YEARS of producing radically innovative socially progressive theatre for Nashville. Ten years is quite an achievement for a theatre company, and PBT is marking this milestone with a season of anniversaries and triumphs as only PBT can. The 2009-2010 season celebrates the lives of extraordinary people and extraordinary events, including a play from the twentieth century's most radical and influential playwrights, a new musical about the quintessential American, the return of Hedwig, and another round of short plays by Nashville's best playwrights. Buy tickets early, and don't miss a single show!
GALILEO
September 18-19, 2009 7:30P
September 23*-26, 2009 7:30PM
*Wednesday, September 23 is Pay What You Can Night
October 1-3, 2009, 7:30PM
Matinee performances: September 20th & 27th, and October 4th, 2009 at 2PM
Troutt Theatre, Belmont University
The revolutionary ideas of German auteur Bertolt Brecht changed the shape of modern theatre and continue to influence the imaginations of playwrights and filmmakers the world over. Written in response to Brecht's exile from Germany prior to World War II, Galileo chronicles the life of the astronomer whose revolutionary ideas literally shook the heavens. Performed in collaboration with Belmont University at the magnificent Troutt Theatre, Galileo is a multimedia tour de force and a powerful look at how one man changed the world.
Rated PG
10x10x2
PBT's Second Annual Festival of Short Plays
March 4-6, 2010, 7:30PM
Trout Theatre, Belmont University
Ten playwrights. Ten plays. Ten minutes.
Join PBT for three evenings of short plays written by Nashville's best writers. This intimate event gives the audience a chance to become a part of the creative process, as professional actors perform staged readings of original ten-minute plays written by local high school, college, and adult playwrights. Each reading is followed by a feedback session giving audience members the opportunity to respond immediately and to offer thought on how to develop each of these works in progress. A testament to the creative community that is Nashville, 10x10x2 gives YOU a chance to help shape the voices of tomorrow.
Download a flyer for further information:
Download a play submission form:
Rated PG
STRAIGHT OUTTA HANNIBAL!: THE LIFE OF MARK TWAIN, ROCK STAR
By Ross Brooks
Music by Brooke Bryant and NaTasha O'Brien
April 15-17, 2010, 7:15PM
Wednesday, April 21 is Pay What You Can Night
Special midnight performance Saturday, April 17
April 21-24, 2010, 7:15PM
If you think you know everything there is to know about Samuel Clemens, think again. Meet Mark Twain:Rock Star! PBT continues its tradition of creating original, provocative new works by presenting Straight Outta Hannibal!, an original rock musical based upon Twain's autobiography, his world famous lectures, and his last posthumously published work, Letters from the Earth. Part of 2009-2010's City-Wide Celebration of Mark Twain, this original work will focus on Twain's unique position as the world's first celebrity and the lasting effects of his notoriety on America and the world. Featuring original music and lyrics written by Ross Brooks and Brooke Bryant, two of Nashville's professional performers and writers, Straight Outta Hannibal! explores the effects of fame upon the man who described himself as "THE American" and his scathing views of the problems facing the human race in the twentieth century. A humorous, radical, provocative and profound look at an American icon, Straight Outta Hannibal! will introduce Nashvillians to a heretofore undiscovered side of Mark Twain and chronicle the events and ideas that led to the creation of the world's first star.
Rated PG-13
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH
By John Cameron Mitchell
Music and lyrics by Stephen Trask
June 17-19*, 23**-26, 2010, 7:15 pm
Belcourt Theatre
*Special midnight performance Saturday, June 19
** Wednesday, June 23 is Pay What You Can Night
You asked for it, you got it: the Glamtastic smash hit returns to Music City! If you missed it the first time, you definitely want to catch the command performance of local favorite Eric Tichenor as he reprises the title role that led to rave reviews and standing ovations! Rock out once again with internationally ignored song stylist Hedwig and her Eastern Bloc backup band The Angry Inch as she pursues the man who stole her songs, her dreams, and her heart. Part stand-up comedy, part punk rock musical, this Obie Award winning spectacular returns to Nashville by popular demand. Join uber-star Hedwig in all her glory as she journeys from inside the Berlin Wall to the Midwest and beyond in her search for love and identity. This raw, raucous, rock ‘n’ roll extravaganza will have you holding your lighters high as Hedwig shows what it costs to be free and what you must sacrifice to be whole.
Rated R