Ringgold Playhouse unveils 2022 lineup
The Ringgold Playhouse’s 2022 season will launch in March, bringing a “variety of wonderful productions” to the historic Depot stage downtown, executive director Adam Cook said.
After COVID abbreviated its 2020 and 2021 seasons, The Ringgold Playhouse (TRP) is excited to deliver a new season full of comedy, drama, and thrills, Cooksaid.
“We’re all pretty stoked about the new season at TRP, which we believe has a little something for everyone,” he said. “With wonderful support from our city, Downtown Development Authority and Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, our board and volunteers have mapped out a season that’s gearing up to be our biggest and most exciting to date. We have comedy, farce, drama, a mysterious thriller, and opportunity for new works with our first ever playwriting showcase for local writers.”
The 2022 season will open in March with “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged),” which will give audiences a comical mash-up of Shakespeare’s famous works, Cook said.
After that, the company will attempt to cultivate new works by offering a playwriting contest and showcase for local wordsmiths in April, he said.
“We’ve wanted to hold some type of playwriting contest for years, and we’re finally doing that this year,” Cook said. “We’ll open up one-act play submissions to local writers, have a panel read all of the submissions, and then decide on two to produce for our One-Act Playwriting Showcase.”
The season’s middle production in June will be an exciting adaptation of one of Stephen King’s most revered novels, “Misery.”
The summer production will be the smash Broadway hit, “The Play That Goes Wrong,” in July followed by Thornton Wilder’s classic tale, “Our Town” to close out the season in late August.
“There’s a lot of buzz already about ‘Misery’ and ‘The Play That Goes Wrong,’ and likewise with the sentimental favorite, ‘Our Town.’ We think that’ll be a great way to end the year,” Cook said.
In addition to the mainstage productions, the company will also present four TRP Comedy Clubs, which are popular events showcasing improvisation and stand-up comedy.
“The comedy clubs are always a hit, and we think they give us a great chance to entertain our audiences between productions,” Cook said. “We just want to offer as much great entertainment as we can for both performers and audiences.”
SEASON TICKETS
As is the case every year, The Ringgold Playhouse offers season ticketing so that avid theatergoers can enjoy all the productions at a discounted price.
“Tickets for our shows aren’t terribly expensive to begin with, but being able to offer a great deal on a season ticket pass to audiences who are so loyal to us is something we’re proud of,” Cook said.
Tickets to all shows are $10 each, but Cook says season tickets only cost $60, which will get the audience member into all 9 shows (five plays and four comedy clubs).
“It’s a great deal and it’s basically getting nine shows for the price of six,” Cook added.
Anyone interested in season tickets can visit The Ringgold Playhouse at Eventbrite.com, or visit the city of Ringgold’s website cityofringgoldga.gov.
2022 SEASON LINEUP
“The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged),” by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield, March 3-6: One of London’s longest-running comedies of all time, this hilarious play showcases all 37 of William Shakespeare’s plays in 97 minutes. Three (or more based on the director’s discretion) madcap actors in tights weave their wicked way through all of Shakespeare’s comedies, histories, and tragedies in one wild ride that will leave you breathless and helpless with laughter. The show is an irreverent, fast-paced romp through the Bard’s works.
TRP’s One-Act Playwriting Showcase, by multiple authors, April 14-17: TRP will accept new one-act play submissions from local writers after the first of the year and will choose two of those plays for production.
This show will consist of an evening of the top two oneact plays penned by local wordsmiths. New, original one-act plays by residents living in the North Georgia/Chattanooga area will be considered. Each playwright must be willing to direct his or her play, or secure someone to direct the play on their behalf.
“Misery,” by William Goldman, based on the novel by Stephen King, June 2-5: Misery follows successful romance novelist Paul Sheldon, who is rescued from a car crash by his “number one fan,” Annie Wilkes, and wakes up captive in her secluded home. While Paul is convalescing, Annie reads the manuscript to his newest novel and becomes enraged when she discovers the author has killed off her favorite character, Misery Chastain. Annie forces Paul to write a new “Misery” novel, and he quickly realizes Annie has no intention of letting him go anywhere. The irate Annie writing as if his life depends on it, and it does.
“The Play That Goes Wrong,” by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, July 1417 & 21-24: Broadway’s smash-hit farce makes its way to TRP. The play-within-a-play follows opening night of Cornley University Drama Society’s newest production, “The Murder at Haversham Manor,” where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous. The 1920s whodunit has everything you never want in a show — an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines). Nevertheless, that accident-prone thespians battle against all odds to make it through to their final curtain call, with hilarious consequences! Part Monty Python, part Sherlock Holmes, this Olivier Awardwinning comedy is a global phenomenon that’s guaranteed to leave you aching
with laughter.
“Our Town,” by Thornton Wilder, Aug. 25-28: Described by Edward Albee as “the greatest American play ever written,” “Our Town” presents the small town of Grover’s Corners in three acts: “Daily Life,” “Love and Marriage” and “Death and Eternity.” Narrated by a stage manager and performed with minimal props and sets, the play depicts the simple daily lives of the Webb and Gibbs families as their children fall in love, marry, and eventually — in one of the most famous scenes in American theatre — die. Thornton Wilder’s final word on how he wanted his play performed is an invaluable addition to the American stage and to the libraries of theatre lovers internationally.
TRP BACKGROUND
The Ringgold Playhouse held its first performance, “Bus Stop,” on July 18, 2013, under Cook’s direction.
Cook had launched his dream of building a theatre inside the city’s historic Depot about a year earlier. He worked with the city and its Downtown Development Authority and its Convention & Visitor’s Bureau to make that dream come true.
In July 2013, just days before the theatre opened for the first time, Cook said his vision for the playhouse was one that city officials and community members embraced from the early stages.
“It means a lot to me that the city, the DDA, and the CVB thought enough of me to let me try to create something special like this downtown,” Cook said.