City Circle's Edge Rep opens this weekend

City Circle - City Circle Acting Company of Coralville presents the Circle’s Edge Repertory Festival April 3-5, 10-12, and 16-19 at the Iowa Realty and Wells Fargo Building at 327 2nd Street in Coralville.

Circle’s Edge Repertory Festival features a hand-picked selection of bold, fresh, and engaging material. Three very different, yet dynamic plays will be presented over three consecutive weekends in April.

Picasso at Lapin Agile, by Steve Martin, is a long running Off-Broadway comedy that places Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso in a chance encounter at the Lapin Agile, a Parisian bar in 1904.

In his first comedy for the stage, Martin has constructed a play that captures his trademark wit with a clever mix of fact and fiction.

The two main characters are both on the verge of a breakthrough—Einstein is just about ready to submit his first paper on relativity for publication and Picasso will paint Les Demoiselles d'Avignon in 1907. Here they have a lengthy and hilarious debate about the value of genius and talent while interacting with a host of other characters.

Picasso at Lapin Agile is directed by Kehry Lane and will be presented on Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, April 5 at 2 p.m., Saturday, April 18 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 19 at 2 p.m.

Rabbit Hole, by David Lindsay-Abaire and winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, is a story of a family that endures a life-shattering accident that turns their world upside down. The play focuses on Becca and Howie, a couple who attempts to cope with the death of their four-year old child in an auto accident and the ensuing complications impacting the family.

This powerfully moving drama charts their bittersweet search for comfort in the darkest of places and for a path that will lead them back into the light of day. This play is an intensely emotional examination of grief, laced with wit, insightfulness, and compassion.

Rabbit Hole is directed by Joshua Beadle and will be presented Friday and Saturday, April 10 and 11 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, April 12 at 2 p.m., and Thursday and Friday, April 16 and 17 at 7:30 p.m.

The third selection is Sarah Shattered, a new play by UI Department of Theatre Arts faculty member John Cameron, a factual and fantastical travel through the life of the author's mother, mixing humor and pathos as only he can.

A staged reading of Sarah Shattered will be presented on Saturday and Sunday, April 18 and 19 at 4:30 p.m.

A special discount ticket package for all three productions is $18 for adults and $15 for youth, students, and seniors.

Tickets for each of Rabbit Hole and Picasso at the Lapin Agile are $12 for adults and $10 for youth, students, and seniors. Any ticket to either show includes admission to the staged reading of Sarah Shattered. If purchased alone, Sarah Shattered tickets are $2 each.

Tickets are available at the Coralville Recreation Center, J. Frahm Music, or by calling 248-1750.

Cast for Picasso at the Lapine Agile:

Freddy - Jaret Morlan
Gaston - Jay Stein
Germaine - Lorin Ditzler
Einstein - Brad Quinn
Suzanne/Countess/Female Admirer - Rachel Howell
Sagot - Michael Stokes
Picasso - Matthew James
Schmendiman - Nick Ostrem
Singer - Eric Burchett

Cast for Rabbit Hole:

Becca - Jana Stedman
Howie - Jeremy Ping
Izzy - Kerry Kieler
Nat - Connie Stannard
Jason - Nick Ostrem