Capital Stage is launching its new season

Capital Stage just launched its new 2018-19 season. The season is titled “#SearchingForAmerica,” and features recent plays focusing on contemporary issues by “American and hyphenated-American playwrights,” according to producing director Michael Stevenson. Stevenson describes the plays he’s picked for the coming season (all Sacramento premieres) as “a theatrical road trip in search of who we are and where we are going.” It aims to explore the questions, “Do we still share the same culture? Is there common ground we can find?”

Here’s a quick overview of what’s on offer:

August 29-September 30. The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe. This dramatic comedy (a 2017 Pulitzer Prize finalist) depicts a girls indoor soccer team discussing everything under the skylights as they warm up before their game each week.

October 17-November 17. Sweat by Lynn Nottage. Set in a Rust Belt town, a diverse group of factory workers shares drinks, secrets and laughs. But layoffs, picket lines and impending poverty begin to divide the group, leading to tense conversations. This script won Nottage her second Pulitzer Prize in 2017.

November 28-December 30. Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberly by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon. A revival of Cap Stage’s popular holiday show from last season. The story features characters from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, in a sort-of sequel to that famous English novel from the early 1800s.

January 23-February 24. Slowgirl by Greg Pierce. A quiet, two-character drama about a reclusive former lawyer living in the Costa Rican jungle who gets an unexpected visit from a 17-year-old niece he barely knows. They find they’re both getting over upsetting episodes in their lives.

March 13-April 14. Vietgone by Qui Nguyen. A raucous, sometimes racy comedy set in 1975, featuring recently arrived refugees who survived the fall of Saigon, adjusting (with some difficulty) to life in America. The plot follows them through scenes in an Arkansas refugee center and an unlikely road trip on a motorcycle. It’s based loosely on the lives of the playwright’s parents.

May 1-June 2. The Other Place, by Sharr White. A successful neurologist in her 50s confronts dilemmas including aging, a cheating husband seeking divorce and the onset of an illness whose nature eludes her grasp … all seen through the central character’s eyes. This drama with a bit of scientific subtext enjoyed a successful Broadway run.

June 19-July 21. The Roommate by Jen Silverman. A comedy with a dark edge, this play explores the lives of two middle-aged women—they meet after a divorce, and the former wife finds she needs a roommate. Surprises send the story in unexpected directions, as the play explores how midlife attempts to reroute one’s life can go awry.