Repertory Theater of Iowa

AGNES OF GOD
by John Pielmeier

October 7-16, 2010
At the Des Moines Social Club

Summoned to a convent, Dr. Martha Livingstone, a court-appointed psychiatrist, is charged with assessing the sanity of a young novitiate accused of murdering her newborn. Miriam Ruth, the Mother Superior, determinedly keeps young Agnes from the doctor, arousing Livingstone’s suspicions further. Who killed the infant and who fathered the tiny victim? Livingstone’s questions force all three women to re-examine the meaning of faith and the power of love leading to a dramatic, compelling climax. A hit on Broadway and later on film. See what the New York Times has called an outstanding play that “deals intelligently with questions of religion and psychology” and what the New York Post has called “unquestionably blindingly theatrical.”

A CHRISTMAS CAROL
by Charles Dickens adapted by Larry Carpenter

December 9-23, 2010
At the Des Moines Social Club

“[RTI has] plucked some of the usual figs from the figgy pudding and created something better, with less sugar and more substance.”

– Michael Morain, Des Moines Register

“A must-see for its artistic values as well as its meaningful message.”

– John Busbee, The Culture Buzz

Des Moines’ newest holiday tradition is back. Last year, audiences and critics alike applauded. This year, RTI returns (along with Ebenezer Scrooge himself) to present this inspired adaptation of the Dickens classic that continues to enchant children of all ages!

CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
by Tennessee Williams

April 7-24, 2011
At the Des Moines Social Club

In a plantation house, a family celebrates the sixty-fifth birthday of Big Daddy, as they sentimentally dub him. The mood is somber, despite the festivities, because a number of evils poison the gaiety: greed, sins of the past and desperate, clawing hopes for the future spar with one another as the knowledge that Big Daddy is dying slowly makes the rounds. Maggie, Big Daddy’s daughter-in-law, wants to give him the news that she’s finally become pregnant by his favorite son, Brick. But Brick won’t cooperate in Maggie’s plans and prefers to stay in a mild alcoholic haze the entire length of his visit. Maggie has her own interests at heart in wanting to become pregnant, of course, but she also wants to make amends to Brick for an error in judgment that nearly cost her her marriage. Swarming around Maggie and Brick are their intrusive, conniving relatives, all eager to see Maggie put in her place and Brick tumbled from his position of most-beloved son.

Atkinson’s review in the NY Times called it “a stunning drama…It is the quintessence of life. It is the basic truth… CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF is a delicately wrought exercise in human communication… As the expression of a brooding point of view about life, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF is limpid and effortless. As theatre, it is superb.”