Theatre 502

Theatre [502] Announces Third Season

Erin Keane — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:30:00 +0000

When the three artistic directors of Theatre [502] launched their first season in 2011, they weren’t sure if Louisville would buy what they were selling—newer plays by buzz-worthy playwrights whose work speaks to theater-goers hungry for recent, relevant work, like Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's "Hunter Gatherers" (season one) and Annie Baker's "The Aliens" (season two).

Theatre [502] Optimistic About the End of the World

Erin Keane — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 21:33:32 +0000

Louisville's Theatre [502] has one eye on the end times and the other on next year.

On Wednesday, the company will present their last Small Batch event of the year, a staged reading of Eric Pfeffinger’s “Accidental Rapture."

The Small Batch Series is Theatre [502]’s roving side stage—their opportunity to produce events that don’t quite find a place in the company’s mainstage season.

REVIEW: Silence Is Golden in [502]'s 'The Aliens'

Erin Keane — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Theatre [502] closes its season with another successful production of a relevant and recent award-winning play. Annie Baker's “The Aliens” (2010 Obie Award for best new American play) is a love letter to the fragility of chosen families and the gentle geniuses our fast-paced society quietly leaves behind. Delicately understated performances by the three actors and careful direction by co-artistic director Mike Brooks make this hushed beauty an unlikely exclamation point on the end of the new company's second season.

Beckett Meets Bukowski in Theatre [502] Season Closer

Erin Keane — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:15:00 +0000

Theatre [502] closes its second season with Annie Baker’s “The Aliens,” an Obie Award-winning play about three misfits who bond behind a Vermont coffee shop.

“The Aliens” opens Friday in the Victor Jory Theatre at Actors Theatre of Louisville and runs through Oct. 13.

Theatre [502] co-artistic director Mike Brooks says when he read “The Aliens" two years ago, it jumped to the top of the company’s “must-produce” pile.

Review: 'Gruesome Playground Injuries'

Erin Keane — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Love Written in the Scars: 'Gruesome Playground Injuries' Opens Friday

Erin Keane — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 20:20:31 +0000

Love hurts. It also bleeds, scars and sometimes needs a trip to the emergency room.

Theatre [502] continues its second season this week with Rajiv Joseph’s “Gruesome Playground Injuries.” Leah Roberts and company co-artistic director Mike Brooks will play Kayleen and Doug, two accident-prone lovers who trace their 30-year relationship from the schoolyard to adulthood, beginning at age 8.

Review: Typographical Dystopia a Love Letter to the Printed Word

Erin Keane — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 20:04:10 +0000

Five years ago, when playwright Jordan Harrison began writing “Futura,” the death of print still sounded like an ominous prophecy, one that could be enlarged into the stuff dystopian fantasies are made of. Today, that dread is palpable to some, and the paperless future is almost here.

Theatre [502]'s 'Futura' Is Now

Erin Keane — Thu, 31 May 2012 19:40:48 +0000

When director Amy Attaway started working on Jordan Harrison’s typographical dystopian play “Futura,” she had just bought her first iPad. One of the first news stories she read on her tablet was about Encyclopedia Britannica discontinuing its print edition. The sinister future Harrison devised, where handwriting, printing, paper and books are outlawed and all written materials are part of “The Big Collection” in the cloud, suddenly felt very close.