City Theatre celebrates 50th season with 'City Rewinds' reading series

City Theatre Company has been telling contemporary stories on the stage for five decades.

Now headquartered on the South Side of Pittsburgh, City Theatre was founded in 1975 as a touring company that performed plays in various locales. It set down roots on the University of Pittsburgh’s campus in 1979 and stayed until the early 1990s, when it threw open the doors to its current home at 1300 Bingham St.

In addition to an exciting slate of full productions set for this season, the next several months will be complemented by a series of readings that examine City Theatre’s storied production history.

“This came up as we were discussing … ways to celebrate the history and look forward to the present. My fellow co-artistic director Monteze Freeland said, ‘Well, why don’t we go back into our archives and revisit these really seminal plays in City’s production history?’” said Clare Drobot, co-artistic director at City Theatre Company.

After conducting audience polls and recalling some favorites of their own, the creative team announced the selection of five plays — one for each decade of City Theatre’s history — that will be read by actors from this month to April.

“It felt wonderful to get to go back and look at these stories that we’ve presented in the past and see how they still inform the present of the theater and the future,” Drobot said.

On Sept. 30, City Theatre will start with the most recently-produced entry in the City Rewinds series, “Hand to God” by Robert Askins. Its original production was staged in 2016 and, according to Drobot, was the highest-grossing production in City Theatre’s history.

“It’s a definite fan favorite. I think it won our audience poll. … It felt like a wonderful launch to the series. A number of the original cast members are able to come back and rejoin us,” Drobot said.

On Nov. 18, it will present a reading of “Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years” by Emily Mann. “Another one of those really seminal productions that touches on the work that City does in bringing conversations that are just so relevant to our communities,” Drobot said. It’s another show that has resonated with both audiences and City Theatre’s artistic team, including Drobot and Freeland.

City also is taking the opportunity to honor another Pittsburgh company celebrating its 50th.

“There’s something happening in Pittsburgh in 1975; there are a number of other companies that have 50th anniversaries this year,” Drobot said.

One such company is Kuntu Repertory Theatre, which aimed to examine Africana life through sociopolitical theater. It was founded in 1974 by Dr. Vernell Lillie at the University of Pittsburgh.

“Kuntu Rep has a long history of partnership with City Theatre. We recently renamed our theater space after Dr. Lillie,” Drobot said.

They will honor that collaboration with a reading Jan. 27.

“Monteze is helming this. We’re calling it ‘Kuntu Rep: An Artistic Collage.’ …We’ll have writing by Dr. Lillie and (playwright) Rob Penny, really creating a celebration of the work of Kuntu Rep and bringing the recognition to that company that it deserves,” Drobot said.

Next up is a work by a playwright whose name might be familar.

On Feb. 24, City Theatre will present “Curse of the Starving Class” by Sam Shepard.

“That’s another production that you hear time and time again about how influential it was. I think, at the time that we were presenting it, it was really cutting edge, and edgy theater in Pittsburgh to be doing that,” Drobot said. Shepard has entered the canon of American theater since then, but, when City Theatre first staged the play in their seventh season, at the University of Pittsburgh space on South Bouquet Street in Oakland, it felt like a game-changer.

Lastly, on April 7, City Theatre will present “Opus” by Michael Hollinger.

“‘Opus’ is one of the two plays that City has produced in part of the world premiere. I think it felt really important to have a production that we’d been part of the world premiere, that was recognized by the American Theatre Critics Association.

“It’s a play that’s gone on to have a life beyond Pittsburgh, and it felt really beautiful to close out the series with that,” Drobot said.

All of the readings will be done in City Theatre’s lobby with actors at music stands.

“The joy of a reading is that you’re honoring the text, you’re honoring the words, the story, and having a chance for audiences to re-engage with pieces that they’ve loved in the past and see how they resonate in the present,” Drobot said.

Other upcoming productions

In addition to City Rewinds, City Theatre has a season packed with contemporary gems that starts tonight with the opening of “POTUS or, behind every great dumb(expletive) are seven women trying to keep him alive.” The play is a very R-rated comedy following a group of women who must do their best to hold the whole country together in the face of a presidential crisis.

Drobot is proud of City Theatre’s history — and the work it is doing currently.

“Contemporary storytelling that challenges and engages a diverse audience, that’s our mission. I think you see that lived out in the community building work that City Theatre does and the stories that we’re presenting to engage with audiences in Pittsburgh.”

For tickets, information

To learn more and get tickets for the City Rewinds series, visit citytheatre.culturaldistrict.org.

For more information on City Theatre Company and their 2024-2025 50th annivesary season, go to citytheatrecompany.org