Palm Beach Dramaworks’ Tryst

Palm Beach Dramaworks continues to buck trends by bringing thought-provoking drama to Palm Beach County, even as snowbirds form their flying V’s on a beeline north. Running May 16 through June 8, Karoline Leach’s Tryst will take the Donald and Ann Brown Theatre, old-fashioned theater, with a twist.

   Far from the picturesque landscapes of Yorkshire, this Edwardian-based thriller is steeped in subterfuge, sex and comeuppance—a Downton Abbey meets Hitchcock sort of affair. Set in 1910 London, conman George Love has set up an enterprising scheme of wooing and marrying women. Once he takes control of their assets, he’s off to the races, disappearing without a trace. His latest target, Adelaide Pinchin, is a mousy millinery assistant. She may seem like the perfect mark on the outside but in turn has a peculiar hold on George that derails his carefully lain plan every step of the way.

   Inspired, in part, by the true story of George Joseph Smith, a serial bigamist who in turn murdered three of his wives/victims, Tryst imbues a sense of the times through staging and design. Naturalistic sets and period costume paired with an orderly plot (with a twist or two) has Tryst playing into that Edwardian London sensibility—stiff upper lip old chap—but the psychological nuances that give rise to the characters’ emotional transformations strikes down those preconceived stereotypes.

• Tickets cost $60.
• Special preview performances will take place on Wednesday, May 14 at 8 p.m. and Thursday at 2 and 8 p.m., and costs $52.
• Palm Beach Dramaworks will host an opening night reception and performance on Friday, May 16 – tickets cost $75.
• Showtimes are as follows: Wednesday, 2 and 8 p.m.; Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m. (except June 5); Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m. (except June 8).
• On Wednesday matinees and Sunday evening performances, talkback sessions with actors and directors will take place immediately following the show.
• For more information and to purchase tickets, visit palmbeachdramaworks.org.

More Summer Fun at Palm Beach Dramaworks

Though Tryst marks the end of Palm Beach Dramaworks’ 2013-14 season, the theatrical offerings will continue well into summer with the theater company’s concert presentation series. These full-length concert performances will include both the book and score of acclaimed Broadway musicals set to a limited instrumental accompaniment and minimal staging and design. This summer, two productions are slated: Zorba! from June 20-29, and The Most Happy Fella from July 18-27.

Adapted from the Nikos Kazantzakis novel Zorba the Greek, Zorba! focuses on the relationship between title character Zorba and Nikos, a young American student who inherited an abandoned mine on Crete.

Based on the play They Knew What They Wanted, the 1956 musical The Most Happy Fella harkens back to rural Napa Valley in the 1920’s where a love triangle evolves. Perhaps a prelude to online dating, Tony, an older grape grower strikes up a mail-based relationship with “Rosabella,” a younger woman from San Francisco. After swapping photos of one another—Tony’s being that of a younger farmhand in his employ—the two decide to marry. But once the two finally meet, the lies laid through mail correspondence unravel.

• Tickets cost $40.
• Showtimes are as follows: Wednesday, 2 and 8 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m.
• Specially priced preview nights are as follows: Zorba! on June 17; The Most Happy Fella on July 18.
• For more information, visit palmbeachdramaworks.org.