"Rounding Third" at Stamford Theatre Works

Stamford Theatre Works will open its 20th anniversary season in its barn theatre at 200 Strawberry Hill Avenue , Stamford , with the funny and endearing comedy, "Rounding Third," October 24 through November 11. The maxim "winning isn't everything, it's the only thing" fires heated and humorous debate for two Little League coaches as they guide their young boys of summer through a season of competition. The play is written by Richard Dresser and directed by Steve Karp, STW's founder and producing director.

Karp said, "Over the 20 years, STW's 'back-yard presence' has been a boon to our thousands of savvy theatre lovers whose discovery of STW has saved them a trip to New York, while helping STW to become the longest-running, original-producing professional theatre in Stamford's history, and an accessible source of pride and inspiration to our entire cultural community.”

“Rounding Third” is about two mismatched coaches of a Little League team. Don is a tough, blue-collar veteran coach who wants to win at all costs, while Michael, a corporate executive and newcomer to the sport, wants a special activity with his son, who has never played baseball before. In their hilarious and tumultuous journey through the season, the two fathers form an uneasy alliance in their efforts to lead the team, from their initial tentative meeting to the climactic championship game.

Playwright Richard Dresser is also a father and Little League coach. Director Steve Karp is a former baseball player. Raised in Stamford , he started playing Little League baseball when he was 10.  He was the shortstop on two championship Babe Ruth League baseball teams representing Stamford in two national tournaments in 1957 ( Ann Arbor , Michigan ) and in 1958 ( Vancouver , Canada ). Karp also played three summer baseball seasons with the Stamford American Legion team, a summer season with the Stamford Twi-Light League, an "all-star" selection at third base for the Chatham Red Sox in the highly regarded Cape Cod College Baseball League, and three years of varsity baseball for Tufts University where he was captain and voted to the Associated Press All-New England Team in his senior year. Karp declined offers from the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox to attend Boston University Law School . He left after one year to go into the theatre. As actor, director, playwright, filmmaker and theatre producer, Karp has spent nearly 40 years in the professional theatre.

STW's 2007-2008 season will continue with "Bee-Luther-Hatchee" by Thomas Gibbons, STW's Annual Black History Month Celebration, January 30 - February 17. After an African-American editor publishes a best-seller about a black woman who lived life on-the-run in the segregated Deep South , the explosive back-story of the book is revealed igniting a firestorm of controversy. The drama will be directed by Patricia R. Floyd.

"The Shape of Things" by Neil Labute, March 12 - March 30, is a drama directed by Doug Moser. When hip art student Evelyn meets dorky museum guard Adam, she devises a provocative subject for her graduate thesis raising questions about seduction, morality and love.

"An Infinite Ache" by David Schulner, April 23 - May 11, is a comedy/drama directed by Steve Karp. Hope and Charles, a pair of lonely twenty-somethings, are about to end a supremely uninteresting first date when the myriad possibilities of their futures together come rushing to meet them.

STW's annual "Great American Composer Salute" will be June 11 - June 29.

Stamford Theatre Works, now in its 20th season, has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and numerous awards from the Connecticut Critics Circle for outstanding work. STW annually stages four original productions of contemporary plays chosen with sensitivity to issues of social relevance, and the Great American Composer Salute. In addition, STW's season includes a School for the Performing Arts and the Purple Cow Children's Theatre. 

Performances are Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m.; matinees Saturdays at 4 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. ; first Sunday and first Tuesday at 7 p.m. A "Conversation Club" follows the first Sunday matinee when the directors and actors participate in a Q&A with the audience. "Art vs. Life," following the first Tuesday, 7 p.m. show, offers a post-performance panel discussion with the directors.  Tickets $25 to $43.  Stamford Theatre Works, 200 Strawberry Hill Ave. (on the campus of Sacred Heart Academy ), Stamford .  www.stamfordtheatreworks.org   Box Office: (203) 359-4414.