Lehigh Valley Charter High School For The Arts Kicks Off Fall Season With THE OSCARS: A CONVERSATION AMONG FRIENDS

The Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts (Charter Arts) Theatre Department will present a series of original plays written by new as well as seasoned professional playwrights as part of its 2024-2025 season.

Playing host to these premieres is an important and distinct honor for a high school theatre program. The school's Artistic Director of Theatre, Kelly Minner-Bickert shares: "We pride ourselves on offering something that is different from other high school theatre programs in the Lehigh Valley. In addition to the extensive training they receive here our students are given the rare opportunity to work with playwrights, composers and other artists at the forefront of the theatre movement in the creation of new works."

The season will kick off with the premiere of The Oscars: A Conversation Among Friends by John Thompson, September 6-8. 2024. This production features an exceptional cast that includes students, alumni and community artists.

In this beautifully constructed story, Oscar Wilde, a famously complex man, invites you into an evening of conversation between five different versions of himself- the young poet, the mature storyteller, the jaded playwright, the sorrowful prisoner, and the weary exile. The conversational jousting between the Oscars brings alive the arc of Wilde's life and follows his search for a way to recover himself as the artist of his own life.

The production is directed by Kelly Minner-Bickert, who shares: "All of the artists involved in this project have diligently committed to taking the intimate conversation among the 5 Wildes and turn it into a transcendent spiritual experience of self reflection and hopefully, discovery for the audience as well," says Minner-Bickert. "As Wilde questions his choices and the world's view of them, he also challenges the audience (who will be seated around the actors as part of the action) to do likewise. Playwright John Thompson, in his first play, has crafted a piece of such raw emotional text (often using WIlde's own words) where the famed wit, dandy, playwright peels back the layers of himself to unmask how his desires, his vanity, his genius, his suffering, and his mistakes led him on the ultimate search to embrace all of his identities and rediscover who is Oscar Wilde?"

Evening performances on September 6 & 7 at 7 PM. Matinee performance on September 8 at 2 PM. This event takes place in the school's Black Box Theatre with very limited seating. Tickets are General Admission: $12 Adult, $7 Student/Child. Tickets can be purchased in advance at CharterArts.org.

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