BY TAMMY RYAN

Directed By Tomé Cousin

CAST: *Wali Jamal Abdullah, Clark Eileen Atkinson, *Karen Baum,*Darren Eliker, *Randy Kovitz, *Juan Rivera LeBron, *Brenden Peifer, Kelsey Robinson,*Helena Ruoti, *Michael Patrick Trimm

* Haitian Cultural Consultant, Accent Coach: Getro Bernabe

* Originally commissioned by Pittsburgh Public Theatre

* Actors appearing courtesy of Actor’s Equity Association

A contemporary murder mystery, North of Forbes updates Agatha Christie’s first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, relocating the action to the wealthy, “north of Forbes” section of Pittsburgh, PA. Emily Cavendish-Inglethorpe is planning a fundraiser for Haitian relief, a cause close to the matriarch’s heart.

Later, after the event, someone in the house is mysteriously poisoned in the middle of the night. Everyone is a suspect as Hercule Poirot, a Haitian private investigator inspired by Christie’s iconic character, navigates family conflicts amidst currents of race and class in a suspenseful and witty retelling of a classic thriller.

BY VINCE MELOCCHI

Directed By Elizabeth Elias Huffman

CAST: *Chris Clavelli, Matt Henderson

It’s 1946 in Pittsburgh. A rebellious art student at Carnegie Tech, 18 year old Andy Warhol, finds himself unexpectedly in the basement of a working class bar owned by Mario “Bones” Bonino, a second generation Italian American from McKeesport. Over the course of the summer, Andy and Bones form an unlikely friendship that surprises them both.

Enjoying critically acclaimed productions in Los Angeles and Chicago, this tender and beautiful play examines the war between the urban-LGBTQ lifestyle and Pittsburgh’s blue collar sensibilities, reminding us that division can be bridged by our fundamental need to create. As Bones says in the play: “There is beauty in the mundane.”

BY YUSSEF EL GUINDI

Directed By J. Cody Spellman

CAST: Karim Chebli, Maher Sameer Obiora Hoque, *Amy Landis, *Callee Miles, *Cotter Smith

A middle-aged American couple visiting Egypt on a business/vacation, are hoping to connect with Egyptian culture via the young Egyptian couple whom they hired as their tour guides. However, they get more than they bargained for, as long dormant issues surface between them that threaten to fracture their marriage.

This witty dramedy, set in the heat of Cairo, pits loyalty against attraction as both couples struggle to stay committed to their partners. Recently named Critics Favorite at Denver Theatre Center.

BY TIMOTHY RUPPERT

Directed By Melissa Hill Grande

Cast: *Theo Allyn,  *Linda Haston, *Ryan Patrick Kearney, *Alex Manalo, *Julia Silverman

Accent coach: Lisa Bansavage

In 1953, at the Sainte-Lucie convent-hospital in Chamonix, France, Sister Marie-Hélène Rivet is assigned to save the life of Vivienne Privernay, a severely ill woman.

Marie-Hélène clashes with both Sister Élise, who distrusts her half-French, half-Laotian colleague, and her own heart, as her relationship with Vivienne carries her back to wartime London and to Christian Locke, a man whom the two women knew long ago and who will very soon re-enter their lives.

The play weaves between France in 1953 and London in the early 1940s as Marie-Hélène struggles to come to terms with her fondness for Vivienne, her passion for the Englishman, Christian Locke, and her sense of loneliness and homelessness.