Playhouse of American Classics comes to Buffalo

The Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society and the Playhouse of American Classics (PAC) are collaborating to present three plays during the upcoming theatre season in the auditorium of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society's Pan American Building, 25 Nottingham Court at Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo.

PAC is a theatre company dedicated to presenting readings and chamber theatre productions of American plays whose authors have won the Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award® or the New York Drama Critics Circle Award.

Co-founded by Terence and Lorena McDonald, PAC produced several productions in New York City from 1989 through 1992 and has recently relocated to Buffalo.

PAC's first production at the Historical Society, "Why Marry?" by Jesse Lynch Williams, will run Nov. 9, 10 and 11. The first play to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1918, "Why Marry?" tells the story of a wealthy young woman who defies pressure from her family to marry rich, opting instead to pursue scientific research and a bohemian lifestyle with her mentor, with whom she has fallen in love.

PAC's second presentation, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award®-winning play, "All the Way Home," by Tad Mosel, will run Feb. 15, 16 and 17, 2008. The play, which is based on James Agee's "A Death in the Family," examines how a young wife and her family react to the sudden death of her

husband. Thematically, the play complements the Historical Society's "In Loving Memory" exhibit, which explores how we choose to memorialize our loved ones.

The exhibit closes Feb. 22.

On April 25, 26 and 27, PAC will present James Gow and Arnard d'Usseau's "Tomorrow the World." Set in a college town during World War II, it tells the story of a boy who returns to his family brainwashed by the Nazis. The play looks at American ideals, fascism and Nazism in the 1940s.

Each production will have four performances: an 8 p.m. show on Friday, a 3 p.m. matinee and 7 p.m. presentation on Saturday, and a 3 p.m. matinee on Sunday.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors and students. Tickets for "Why Marry?" will go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 9, and can be purchased by calling the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society at 873-9644, Ext. 301.