Thespis in Yellow

11.03.2015

I've Read 300 Plays Now...

This list includes every single play I've read, both long and short, since the summer of 2012 starting with Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Some of these plays were technically re-reads, in that I probably read the script back in college or something. And although I like to think this is a pretty good range of plays, you'll notice that the overwhelming majority are from the 20th and 21st centuries. It's been a prolific one hundred-some years, what can I say.

I still haven't figured out what I'm doing with all of this, but... here you go!

A Bedfull of Foreigners - Dave Freeman - 1974
A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen - 1879 (Two translations)
A Dream Play - August Strindberg - 1907
A Lie of the Mind - Sam Shepard - 1985
A Memory of Two Mondays - Arthur Miller - 1955
A Nervous Smile - John Belluso - 2005
A Plague of Angels - Mark St. Germain - 2004 (Originally titled Forgiving Typhoid Mary - 1988)
A Skull in Connemara - Martin McDonagh - 1997
A Slight Ache - Harold Pinter - 1961
A Stone Carver - William Mastrosimone - 1987
A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams - 1947
A View from the Bridge - Arthur Miller - 1955
Abe Lincoln in Illinois - Robert E. Sherwood - 1938
Absalom - Zoe Kazan - 2009
After Ashley - Gina Gionfriddo - 2004
After Miss Julie - Patrick Marber - 2003 - Adapted from the play Miss Julie by August Strindberg
Alcestis - Euripides - c. 438 B.C.E.
All My Sons - Arthur Miller - 1947
All This Intimacy - Rajiv Joseph - 2006
Alone Together - Lawrence Roman - 1984
American Buffalo - David Mamet - 1975
An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley - 1946
Angel Street - Patrick Hamilton - 1938 (Originally titled Gaslight)
Animals Out of Paper - Rajiv Joseph - 2008
Anne of the Thousand Days - Maxwell Anderson - 1948
Antigone - Sophocles - c. 441 B.C.E. (Two translations)
Appointment With Death - Agatha Christie - 1945
Arsenic and Old Lace - Joseph Kesselring - 1941
'Art' - Yasmina Reza - 1994 (1996)
As Bees in Honey Drown - Douglas Carter Beane - 1997
August: Osage County - Tracy Letts - 2007
Awake and Sing! - Clifford Odets - 1935
Back of the Throat - Yussef El Guindi - 2005
Bad Seed - Maxwell Anderson - 1954 - Adapted from the novel by William March
Becky Shaw - Gina Gionfriddo - 2008
Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo - Rajiv Joseph - 2009
Blackbird - David Harrower - 2007
Body Awareness - Annie Baker - 2008
Born Yesterday - Garson Kanin - 1946
Bosoms and Neglect - John Guare - 1979
Bug - Tracy Letts - 1996
Buried Child - Sam Shepard - 1978
Bury the Dead - Irwin Shaw - 1936
Bus Stop - William Inge - 1955
By the Bog of Cats... - Marina Carr - 1998
Caligula - Albert Camus - 1945
Cartoon - Steve Yockey - 2006
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Tennessee Williams - 1955 (Two versions)
Child's Play - Robert Marasco - 1970
Circle Mirror Transformation - Annie Baker - 2009
Closer - Patrick Marber - 1997
Colossus - Clive Barker - 1983
Come Back, Little Sheba - William Inge - 1950
Conversations After a Burial - Yasmina Reza - 1987 (2000)
Copenhagen - Michael Frayn - 1998
Crimes of the Heart - Beth Henley - 1980
Curse of the Starving Class - Sam Shepard - 1978
Dangerous Corner - J. B. Priestley - 1932
Danton's Death - Georg Büchner - 1835 / 1902
Dark Play or Stories for Boys - Carlos Murillo - 2007
Dead City - Sheila Callaghan - 2006
Dealer's Choice - Patrick Marber - 1995
Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller - 1949
Desire Under the Elms - Eugene O'Neill - 1924
Dial M for Murder - Frederick Knott - 1952
Dirty Hands - Jean-Paul Sartre - 1948
Distracted - Lisa Loomer - 2007
Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead - Bert V. Royal - 2005
Don't Drink the Water - Woody Allen - 1966
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Jeffrey Hatcher - 2008 - Adapted from the novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stephenson
Dracula - Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston - 1927 - Adapted from the novel by Bram Stoker
Dream Girl - Elmer Rice - 1945
Each in His Own Way - Luigi Pirandello - 1924
Earth Spirit - Frank Wedekind - 1894 / 1898
Elizabeth the Queen - Maxwell Anderson - 1930
Endgame - Samuel Beckett - 1957
Everyman - Anonymous (Morality Play) - c. 1510
Extremities - William Mastrosimone - 1981
Fat Men in Skirts - Nicky Silver - 1988
Fat Pig - Neil LaBute - 2004
Fefu and Her Friends - María Irene Fornés - 1977
Frankenstein in Love - Clive Barker - 1982
Free Will & Wanton Lust - Nicky Silver - 1991
Fuddy Meers - David Lindsay-Abaire - 1999
Funny Money - Ray Cooney - 1994
George and Margaret - Gerald Savory - 1937
Getting Out - Marsha Norman - 1977
Gideon - Paddy Chayefsky - 1961
Glengarry Glen Ross - David Mamet - 1983
God of Carnage - Yasmina Reza - 2006 (2008)
Griller - Eric Bogosian - 1998
Gruesome Playground Injuries - Rajiv Joseph - 2009
Hannele - Gerhart Hauptmann - 1893
Happy Days - Samuel Beckett - 1961
Harvey - Mary Chase - 1944
Hauptmann - John Logan - 1986
Henry Flamethrowa - John Belluso - 2001
Henry IV - Luigi Pirandello - 1922
High Tor - Maxwell Anderson - 1936
Home of the Brave - Arthur Laurents - 1945
How I Learned to Drive - Paula Vogel - 1997
I Have Been Here Before - J. B. Priestley - 1937
I Remember Mama - John Van Druten - 1944 - adapted from the fictionalized memoir Mama's Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes
If - Edward Plunkett (Lord Dunsany) - 1921 / 1927
In the Boom Boom Room - David Rabe - 1973
Jack or The Submission - Eugène Ionesco - 1955
Jailbait - Deirdre O'Connor - 2009
Juno and the Paycock - Séan O'Casey - 1924
Key Exchange - Kevin Wade - 1981
Killer Joe - Tracy Letts - 1993
King Argimênês and the Unknown Warrior - Edward Plunkett (Lord Dunsany) - 1911
La Tourista - Sam Shepard - 1967
Landscape of the Body - John Guare - 1977
Leonce and Lena - Georg Büchner - 1836 / 1895
Life With Father - Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse - 1939
Life x 3 - Yasmina Reza - 2001 (2000)
Line - Israel Horovitz - 1967
Liolà - Luigi Pirandello - 1916
Look Back in Anger - John Osborne - 1956
Low in the Dark - Marina Carr - 1989
Man from Nebraska - Tracy Letts - 2003
Mary of Scotland - Maxwell Anderson - 1933
"Master Harold"... and the Boys - Athol Fugard - 1982
Medea - Euripides - c. 431 B.C.E.
Melancholy Play - Sarah Ruhl - 2002
Men in White - Sidney Kingsley - 1933
Middle of the Night - Paddy Chayefsky - 1956
Miss Julie - August Strindberg - 1889 (Four translations)
Moon Over Buffalo - Ken Ludwig - 1995
Mr. & Mrs. - Kevin Wade - 1984
Mr. Marmalade - Noah Haidle - 2004
Never the Sinner - John Logan - 1994
Nickel and Dimed - Joan Holden - 2002 - Adapted from the non-fiction book by Barbara Ehrenreich
'Night, Mother - Marsha Norman - 1983
No Exit - Jean-Paul Sartre - 1944
No Sex Please, We're British - Anthony Marriott and Alistair Foot - 1971
Nocturama - Annie Baker - 2009
None of the Above - Jenny Lyn Bader - 2003
Not Now, Darling - Ray Cooney and John Chapman - 1967
Oedipus at Colonus - Sophocles - c. 401 B.C.E. (Two translations)
Oedipus the King - Sophocles - c. 429 B.C.E. (Three translations)
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck - 1937
Oleanna - David Mamet - 1992
Our Country's Good - Timberlake Wertenbaker - 1988 - Adapted from the novel The Playmaker by Thomas Keneally
Pandora's Box - Frank Wedekind - 1904
Paradise Lost - Clifford Odets - 1935
Picnic - William Inge - 1953
Portia Coughlan - Marina Carr - 1996
Prometheus Bound - Aeschylus - c. 480 - 410 B.C.E.
Pterodactyls - Nicky Silver - 1993
Pyretown - John Belluso - 2005
R. U. R. - Karel Čapek - 1920 (Two translations)
Rabbit Hole - David Lindsay-Abaire - 2006
Rag and Bone - Noah Haidle - 2005
Rapture, Blister, Burn - Gina Gionfriddo - 2012
Reasons to be Pretty - Neil LaBute - 2008
Red - John Logan - 2009
Reynard the Fox - Arthur Fauquez - 1958
Rhinoceros - Eugène Ionesco - 1960
Right You Are! (If You Think So) - Luigi Pirandello - 1917
Rope - Patrick Hamilton - 1929
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - Tom Stoppard - 1966
Saturn Returns - Noah Haidle - 2008
Say You Love Satan - Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa - 2001
Scotland Road - Jeffrey Hatcher - 1993
Seven Against Thebes - Aeschylus - c. 467 B.C.E.
Shivaree - William Mastrosimone - 1983
Six Characters in Search of an Author - Luigi Pirandello - 1921 (Two translations)
Six Degrees of Separation - John Guare - 1990
Slasher - Allison Moore - 2009
Sleuth - Anthony Shaffer - 1970
Spike Heels - Theresa Rebeck - 1992
Spring Awakening - Frank Wedekind - 1891 / 1906
Streamers - David Rabe - 1976
Street Scene - Elmer Rice - 1929
subUrbia - Eric Bogosian - 1994 (Two versions)
Summer and Smoke - Tennessee Williams - 1948
Talk Radio - Eric Bogosian - 1987
The Adding Machine - Elmer Rice - 1923
The Aliens - Annie Baker - 2010
The American Plan - Richard Greenberg - 1990
The Autumn Garden - Lillian Hellman - 1951
The Bald Soprano - Eugène Ionesco - 1950
The Beauty Queen of Leenane - Martin McDonagh - 1996
The Birthday Party - Harold Pinter - 1958
The Breasts of Tiresias - Guillaume Apollinaire - 1903 / 1917
The Broken Heart - John Ford - c. 1625 - 1632
The Canterbury Pilgrims - Percy MacKaye - 1909 - Adapted from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
The Car Cemetery - Fernando Arrabal - 1961
The Caretaker - Harold Pinter - 1960
The Cat and the Canary - John Willard - 1922
The Caucasian Chalk Circle - Bertolt Brecht - 1948
The Cave Dwellers - William Saroyan - 1957
The Chairs - Eugène Ionesco - 1952
The Circle - W. Somerset Maugham - 1921
The Clean House - Sarah Ruhl - 2004
The Crucible - Arthur Miller - 1953 (Two versions)
The Curious Savage - John Patrick - 1950
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs - William Inge - 1957
The Dumb Waiter - Harold Pinter - 1960
The Family of Mann - Theresa Rebeck - 1994
The Father - August Strindberg - 1890 (Two translations)
The Flies - Jean-Paul Sartre - 1943
The Food Chain - Nicky Silver - 1994
The Foreigner - Larry Shue - 1983
The Future is in Eggs - Eugène Ionesco - 1957
The Gas Heart - Tristan Tzara - 1921
The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams - 1945
The Glittering Gate - Edward Plunkett (Lord Dunsany) - 1909
The Gods of the Mountain - Edward Plunkett (Lord Dunsany) - 1911
The Golden Doom - Edward Plunkett (Lord Dunsany) - 1916
The Good Person of Szechwan - Bertolt Brecht - 1943
The Hairy Ape - Eugene O'Neill - 1922
The Hasty Heart - John Patrick - 1945
The Haunting of Hill House - F. Andrew Leslie - 1964 - Adapted from the novel by Shirley Jackson
The History of the Devil - Clive Barker - 1979
The Holdup - Marsha Norman - 1983
The Homecoming - Harold Pinter - 1965
The House of Blue Leaves - John Guare - 1970
The Indian Wants the Bronx - Israel Horovitz - 1968
The Insect Play - Karel and Josef Čapek - 1922
The King in Yellow - Thom Ryng - 1999 - Loosely adapted from the anthology by Robert William Chambers
The Last Days of Judas Iscariot - Stephen Adly Guirgis - 2005
The Latent Heterosexual - Paddy Chayefsky - 1968
The Leader - Eugène Ionesco - 1953
The Letter - W. Somerset Maugham - 1927
The Linden Tree - J. B. Priestley - 1947
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - 1989 - Joseph Robinette - Adapted from the books by C. S. Lewis
The Lonesome West - Martin McDonagh - 1997
The Lover - Harold Pinter - 1963
The Lover's Melancholy - John Ford - 1628
The Mai - Marina Carr - 1994
The Makropulos Case - Karel Čapek - 1922
The Male Animal - Elliott Nugent and James Thurber - 1940
The Man Who Came to Dinner - George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart - 1939
The Member of the Wedding - Carson McCullers - 1950
The Mineola Twins - Paula Vogel - 1996
The Misunderstanding - Albert Camus - 1944
The Mousetrap - Agatha Christie - 1952
The Mystery Plays - Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa - 2001
The Nerd - Larry Shue - 1981
The Night of the Iguana - Tennessee Williams - 1961
The Odd Couple - Neil Simon - 1965
The Old Bachelor - William Congreve - 1693
The Patriots - Sidney Kingsley - 1943
The Persians - Aeschylus - c. 472 B.C.E.
The Pigman - F. Andrew Leslie - 1975 - Adapted from the novel by Paul Zindel
The Pillowman - Martin McDonagh - 2003
The Playboy of the Western World - John Millington Synge - 1907
The Rats - Gerhart Hauptmann - 1911
The Respectful Prostitute - Jean-Paul Sartre - 1946
The Room - Harold Pinter - 1960
The Rules of Charity - John Belluso - 2005
The Scarecrow, or The Glass of Truth - Percy MacKaye - 1911
The Shape of Things - Neil LaBute - 2001
The Spanish Tragedy - Thomas Kyd - c. 1582 - 1592
The Substance of Fire - Jon Robin Baitz - 1990
The Suppliants - Aeschylus - c. 470 - 463 B.C.E.
The Teahouse of the August Moon - John Patrick - 1953 - Adapted from the novel by Vern Sneider
The Tenth Man - Paddy Chayefsky - 1959
The Time of Your Life - William Saroyan - 1939
The Tooth of Crime - Sam Shepard - 1972
The Trojan Women - Euripides - c. 415 B.C.E.
The Unexpected Man - Yasmina Reza - 1995 (1998)
The Voice of the Turtle - John Van Druten - 1943
The Waiting Room - Lisa Loomer - 1994
The Way of the World - William Congreve - 1700
The Weavers - Gerhart Hauptmann - 1893
The Weird - Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa - 2004
The White Plague - Karel Čapek - 1937
The Woman in Black - Stephen Mallatratt - 1987 - Adapted from the novel by Susan Hill
The Women of Lockerbie - Deborah Brevoort - 2003
The Woolgatherer - William Mastrosimone - 1979
Third and Oak - Marsha Norman - 1978
This Savage Parade - Anthony Shaffer - 1987
Three Days of Rain - Richard Greenberg - 1997
Till the Day I Die - Clifford Odets - 1935
Time and the Conways - J. B. Priestley - 1937
'Tis Pity She's a Whore - John Ford - c. 1629 - 1633
To Kill a Mockingbird - Christopher Sergel - 1970 - Adapted from the novel by Harper Lee
Traveler in the Dark - Marsha Norman - 1984
True West - Sam Shepard - 1980
U.S. Drag - Gina Gionfriddo - 2001
Ubu the King - Alfred Jarry - 1896
Under the Yum-Yum Tree - Lawrence Roman - 1960
View of the Dome - Theresa Rebeck - 1996
Vigils - Noah Haidle - 2006
Wait Until Dark - Frederick Knott - 1966
Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett - 1953
Waiting for Lefty - Clifford Odets - 1935
Watch on the Rhine - Lillian Hellman - 1941
Welded - Eugene O'Neill - 1924
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - Edward Albee - 1962
Why Marry? - Jesse Lynch Williams - 1918
Winterset - Maxwell Anderson - 1935
Witness for the Prosecution - Agatha Christie - 1953
Woman and Scarecrow - Marina Carr - 2006
Wonder of the World - David Lindsay-Abaire - 2000
Woyzeck - Georg Büchner - 1837 / 1913 (Two translations)
Write Me a Murder - Frederick Knott - 1961

3.20.2015

Dream Girl, by Elmer Rice (1945)

Pay close enough attention to regional theatre, especially community theatre, you'll start to see patterns. There are some plays that get recycled over and over ad infinitum due to a mix of those scripts being popular and the powers that be having limited reference pools. The popularity of certain plays, such as Kesselring's Arsenic and Old Lace and Neil Simon's The Odd Couple, is probably because each of these plays includes colorful characters, strong humor, and a sort of feel-good, inoffensive, "heartwarming" quality to them. Occasionally, in my quest to read tons and tons of plays, I come across one of these style of plays that has, for some reason, been completely lost to history.

The play Dream Girl, by Elmer Rice, is one such example.

The Playwright

Elmer Rice (1892 - 1967) was born Elmer Leopold Reizenstein in New York City. His first play to reach Broadway, On Trial, was first performed on August 19th, 1914; it is, in fact, available for free at Google Books as it is old enough to be in the public domain. At this point, Rice was still writing under his birth name; he later anglicized his surname, likely for professional reasons.

Young Rice. Birds eat him and explode.

He's best known for two plays. The Adding Machine, first produced in 1923, is probably his most famous play at this point in time, finding its way on to the occasional must-read list of plays for theatre students due to its influence on American Expressionism (right up there with The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neill).

His second-best-known play, Street Scene, was first produced in early 1929 and was the winner of that year's Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Rice was also one of the founding members of The Playwrights' Company in 1938, making him one of the people who kept theatre alive and going in New York throughout the Great Depression and World War II.

Respect the Rice.

The Play

Dream Girl survives, in part, because of its inclusion with Rice's two most famous plays in the anthology Elmer Rice: Three Plays, published in 1965. It looks as though the Dramatists Play Service holds the rights; they printed the last acting edition back in 1998, so not terribly long ago.

It was first staged at the Coronet Theatre on December 14th, 1945, starring Betty Field in the title role. The production was successful enough to warrant a run lasting exactly one year, plus a revival six years later that was... not as successful. It was also adapted into a movie that was released in 1948.

Pictured: One of the nice things about the 1940's.
We should cherish these; there weren't very many.

The protagonist and title character is Georgina Allerton, a twenty-something woman who lives with her parents in the big city and is given to flights of fancy not unlike those of Walter Mitty. As she gets lost in fantasy (which happens repeatedly), the set is moved about and the actors play out her daydreams.

It's a two-act farce that takes place over a 24-hour period in Georgina's life. In it, Georgina wakes in the morning, feeling the strain of unrequited love for her brother-in-law. She fantasizes her way through breakfast with her folks, spending the day at work as manager of an independent bookstore, and going on a date to see The Merchant of Venice that evening, events all leading to a whirlwind romance with the one man who was willing to criticize her novel.

And, of course, there is a happy ending.

Near as I can tell, this play has not gotten a lot of attention, despite the fact that it looks very appropriate for commercial and community theatre. The casting and set requirements are both within the grasp of most low-budget theatres, especially if doubling is used. The DPS site calls it "One of the author's most glamorous plays." I don't disagree, but a better word to describe it is charming. It is one of the author's most charming plays.

In terms of content... Honestly, this script is far less complicated and dated than, say, Marriott and Foot's English farce, No Sex Please, We're British, which recently swept through our region like a pithy little fungus infection. And it's far less controversial (in a horribly racist way that nobody used to think twice about) than, say, Peter Pan. I suppose it's a little sexist, but try finding a play from the 1940's that isn't.

[Protip: Every public library in the country has an Inter-Library Loan system, by which you can get books (including scripts) for free, assuming there's a library in the country that has the book in question. This has been, for me, a very useful tool as a play reader. Check it out.]

Of course, who knows what this'll look like when it's actually staged. Please don't hurt me if your production bombs.

GEORGINA: I wonder how long a person can go on like this without developing a psychosis or something. For all I know, I may have a psychosis already. Good grief, what a thought! I wish I could remember that awful nightmare I had last night. Still, they say it's awfully hard to make anything out of your own dreams. That damned little psychic censor gets in your way. And besides, I really don't know very much about dream symbols. Just the obvious ones, like Maypoles and church steeples--and I never seem to dream about them. Oh, well, to hell with it!

Yep, that's a dick joke and a slam against Freudian psychology all in one go.

1.22.2015

A List of Regional Theatre Companies - Sioux Falls, SD

This list includes a small bit of information for each of the groups doing regular theatre in Eastern South Dakota and the surrounding area. It is very likely incomplete, but this blog post can (and probably will) be updated from time to time.

This post, perhaps more than others, really does invite some commentary. Those reading this who know me personally can contact me through other avenues if there's a correction or addition that should be noted; otherwise, use the comment section below.

The goal of this post is, of course, to promote some degree of awareness as to what's going on with area theatre. At the bottom of this list is a link to a calendar created through Google Calendar that can be added to one's Google/Gmail account; it incorporates most of the auditions and performances that I can find and that I have found the time to write in. It, like this blog, is a work in progress.

Sioux Empire Community Theatre (SECT)

Sioux Falls, SD
Official Website for SECT
Seasons run year-round, producing five mainstage shows starting in August, along with one studio show and two "Stage Adventures" (children's theatre) productions in the Ann Zabel Studio Theatre. During the summer months, SECT produces two summer camps for children (both of which involve the production of a play).
Performances are in the Orpheum Theatre, located on the north end of downtown Sioux Falls. The Ann Zabel Studio Theatre, located in the same building, is where the Studio shows are performed.
Facebook
Twitter

Augustana College Theatre Department

Sioux Falls, SD
Central Website
The department produces four mainstage productions per school year, plus three student productions through the Augustana College Theatrical Society (ACTS). Augustana also has a student-run improvisation group, Brand Name Improv (BNi).
Facebook (ACTS)
Twitter (ACTS)
Brand Name Improv: Facebook Page

Bare Bodkins Theatre Company

Sioux Falls, SD
Official Website
One show per season, usually by William Shakespeare.
Performances are at the ruins of the Queen Bee Mill in Falls Park, Sioux Falls, every summer. Productions are typically minimalist, with actors playing multiple roles. These productions are free of charge, but tickets must be acquired before each performance as seating is limited.
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Twitter

University of Sioux Falls Department of Communication Studies and Theatre

Sioux Falls, SD
Production Website
Based on what could be determined from their website, it appears they do three or four productions per season, including family-friendly productions akin to those of a community theatre.
Facebook

Olde Towne Dinner Theatre

Worthing, SD
Official Website
A seasons includes four productions over the course of the year, plus an additional show during the summer. Musicals and straight plays are both produced here.
Performances are at the Old Towne Dinner Theatre in downtown Worthing, South Dakota. Productions are, of course, presented along with a dinner. Sunday matinees are desert-only meals.
Facebook
Flickr

Mighty Corson Art Players

Corson, SD
No Official Website
Two or three mainstage shows are produced per season.
Performances are at the Mighty Corson Art Players Theatre in Corson, South Dakota (just north of Brandon) across the street from the Bottoms Up bar.
Facebook

Harrisburg Area Theatre

Harrisburg, SD
Official Website
Uncertain production schedule at this point. The website lists only one show as of this writing (01.21.2015).
No further information could be found through Facebook and Twitter.

Prairie Repertory Theatre

Brookings, SD and Brandon, SD
Official Website
Produces four (sometimes five) plays over the course of the summer from May to August. Productions include both plays and musicals. Although it is affiliated with the Department of Communication Studies and Theatre at South Dakota State University, the scripts selected for production are typically the type seen in community theatre.
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Twitter

South Dakota State University Department of Communication Studies and Theatre (State University Theatre)

Brookings, SD
Production Website
Productions include four mainstage performances of both plays and musicals through State University Theatre, along with occasional student-run productions and the annual variety show, Capers.
Facebook

Brookings Community Theatre

Brookings, SD
Official Website
Typically four productions per season. See the website for the current location of productions.
Facebook

Vermillion Community Theatre

Vermillion, SD
Official Website
It appears they do one or two productions per season.
Facebook

University of South Dakota Theatre

Vermillion, SD
Production Website
This collegiate theatre produces four mainstage shows per season, with two or three performances in their arena space.
Facebook

Lewis & Clark Theatre Company

Yankton, SD
Official Website
Seasons are four or five shows. They are affiliated with the Yankton Children's Theatre, which produces one show per season.
Facebook

Mitchell Area Community Theatre

Mitchell, SD
Official Website
The seasons currently consist of five mainstage productions.
Facebook

Huron Area Community Theatre

Huron, SD
Official Website
It looks like their seasons consist of four plays, give or take.
Facebook

Town Players: Watertown's Community Theatre

Watertown, SD
Official Website
Their website indicates that there are four performances in the most recent season, although whether or not these are plays in the traditional sense is unknown.
Facebook

Aberdeen Community Theatre

Aberdeen, SD
Official Website
Apparently they do a season of five mainstage shows, along with an improv group and some connection with Northern State University.
Facebook

Pierre Players Community Theatre

Pierre, SD
Official Website
Their season appears to be four or five shows.
Facebook
Twitter

Place Holder Theatre Company

And Finally... The Calendar:

Rather than attempt to embed this bugger, I just added the link. It should be possible to add this calendar to one's own Google Calendar.

https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=v9fojalp03stms3rqmcht8tdlk%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Chicago