Irish Riviera Productions and The Beverly Hills Playhouse present the Pittsburgh premiere of Years to the Day, written and directed by Allen Barton, opening February 6th.
First presented in 2013 during the height of the Obama years, Years to the Day was named one of Los Angeles’ 10 Best New Plays by LA Weekly and has since been performed in ten cities across three continents. Allen Barton’s script is a timeless and timely treatise on the nature of friendship and how it can survive a world that seems to change more quickly with the passing years, not tied to any actual politician or specific years of stress that those issues can bring to the fore.
Image: Irish Riviera productions
Years to the Day centers on two old friends, Dan and Jeff, who meet for coffee — it’s been eight years since their last in-person meeting. What unfolds is an 80-minute single conversation between them, where the topics of friendship, family, marriage, health, kids, and politics intertwine to make them question the nature of friendship and whether the bond they made in the first week of college can withstand the increasing stress of different opinions across all those topics. Have the intervening years made them more tolerant of these different views? Or have they become calcified under a form of “maturity” that would say, “There are some opinions that simply cannot be tolerated anymore”?
Barton owns the Beverly Hills Playhouse and is a playwright/author, director, teacher, and classical pianist. His other plays include Circling, Disconnection, and Engagement. Allen’s acting resume includes extensive stage, television, and film credits.
McManne has been a professional actor for 45 years, appearing most recently as Don Sheppard, Producer of “60 Minutes” in the TV series, Manhunt.
Whalen has performed in more than 100 plays at some of America’s finest theatres, including The Guthrie Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, South Coast Rep, Roundabout Theatre Company, PICT, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Alley Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theater, City Theatre Company, Pittsburgh Playwrights, Quantum, and barebones productions. Whalen recently made his eighth stage appearance as Sherlock Holmes in Kinetic Theatre’s holiday production of A Sherlock Carol.
The Beverly Hills Playhouse is an acting school with theaters and training facilities in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City. It is one of the oldest acting schools and theatres in the Los Angeles area. Notable alums include George Clooney, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ted Danson, Tyne Daly, Doris Roberts, and James Cromwell.
Check back early next week for Sharon Eberson’s upcoming interview with David Wahlen.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Irish Riviera Productions and The Beverly Hills Playhouse present the Pittsburgh premiere of Years to the Day at Carnegie Stage from February 6 to February 23, 2025. Performances are scheduled for Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 1:00 pm.
For tickets, contact Carnegie Stage at (724) 873-3576, or visit carnegiestage.com
Categories: Arts and Ideas, Show Previews
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